The Life of Becca Griffin
by Addi319
Summary: Candor-born Rebecca Griffin is prone to make mistakes. She's even going to make mistakes that will change her entire life at the aptitude test. An illegal kiss leads from there to become something so much more, as she tries to fit in to her new faction that she doesn't belong in. I don't own Divergent.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. Credits go to Veronica Roth. However, I do own my many OCs.**

 _Ugly._ The words spin through my mind as I stumble over to my bed. _I'm ugly. And a liar. And not worth anything. I'm a loser._

No, Rebecca, I tell myself. You're not a loser. You are a proud Candor.

But then doubts start to float through me once more and I flop down on the bed, feeling several tears slip out.

After all, Carrie can't lie. So if she insults me, it means she really means it, which makes it hurt even more.

Why can't she leave me alone?

Ever since she started dating my first and only crush, she's been rubbing it in my face and bragging that he chose her and not me. I hate her deeply for that, but I know she's right.

I don't belong in Candor, she said. I don't belong in Candor.

Well, what a coincidence. The Choosing Ceremony's in a month for me, and I'm just counting down the days I can prove her wrong, no matter what the aptitude test says.

I _am_ Candor. I'm _not_ a liar.

The words echo through my head as I try to forget Carrie. Forget how she hung back after class, after the teacher left, and confronted me as I was the last to leave. Forget how she challenged me with personal questions and then insulted me deeply when I didn't want to answer them. Forget how Liam just stood there and watched and didn't even defend me.

I will put up with her just to prove her wrong. Just one more day.

 _Just one more day._

My younger sister Cassie is counting on me to choose Candor. She's only eleven and it would crush her if I chose another faction.

It would almost be a joke to choose another faction, actually. I get too angry to be Amity, too selfish to be Abnegation, too dumb to be Erudite, too cowardly to be Dauntless.

But just enough honesty to be Candor.

Dinner that night passes quickly like usual. Mom and Dad berate Cassie for her low score on an exam – brutally honest like always. Cassie looks upset, but I comfort her by slipping her my dessert – a thin slice of vanilla cake.

After dinner, my mother washes the dishes while Cassie and I serve my father his evening tea and his biscuits and jam. He reads the newspaper (written and published by Erudite, delivered by Abnegation) silently, only commenting on what he thinks is important.

Once the dishes are done, my father tells me to stay back while my mother gets Cassie ready for bed. I look at him curiously.

"Aptitude test is tomorrow," he says curtly, putting down his newspaper. "What faction do you think you'll get?"

"Candor," I tell him honestly. "I'm going to get Candor and then I'm going to choose Candor at the Choosing Ceremony."

He studies me for a second, trying to detect any lies, but I'm telling the full truth – or at least what I believe.

Finally, he smiles. "I'm glad to hear it, Rebecca. Initiation might be hard, but believe me, it'll be worth it."

"Father, you don't need to worry. I've always been truthful."

He nods. "That I know. I was just making sure."

I smile back. "Goodnight, Father."

"Goodnight, my Candor daughter."

I turn and walk back to my room, feeling very proud. It's not every day my father will praise me like that.

Sleep overcomes me quickly and I wake up in the morning feeling fully rested, anticipating the full day to come.

I plan to take the bus like I usually do, with Abnegation and Erudite, but then I see Carrie boarding it as well, and decide to just walk. I really don't want to deal with her right now. Despite my firm decision that I want Candor, I'm still slightly nervous for the aptitude test, so I'm just going to go the coward's way – but only for this morning.

Five minutes in and I am lost in deep thought. I barely realize it when someone taps me on the shoulder.

I look up distractedly and immediately want to go hide in a hole somewhere.

It's Liam, my crush who's dating Carrie.

Oh great.

"What are you doing here?" he asks me curiously. The stubble around his chin looks particularly attractive right now, and I have to tear my eyes away from his beautiful blue eyes.

"Uh … um … I could ask you the s-same question," I stutter and stammer. Well that's just fantastic. I do _not_ sound like a Candor right now.

But he just smiles slightly. "You could, technically, but I asked you first."

Suddenly I blurt out, totally against my will – but what can I say, I'm Candor – "Why didn't you stick up for me when your girlfriend was insulting me yesterday?"

Sure, it's what I wanted to say, it's what I'm truthfully thinking, but still. Sometimes Candor isn't the best option when you're talking to your crush – who's romantically involved with your mortal enemy.

Now it's _his_ turn to stutter and stammer. Well, not as much as pathetic ol' me, but still good enough.

"Er … I, uh … Rebecca, I …"

Never mind, he _was_ stammering as much as pathetic ol' me.

"You know what, I gotta go. I'm going to be late for the aptitude test," I interrupt.

"Yeah, me too," he says awkwardly. "Can I walk with you?"

Well crap. That was _not_ what I was expecting.

"Um, I guess. Sure."

He smiles slightly and falls into line with me as we begin to walk.

"So, why _did_ you decide to walk?" he asks after some silence.

 _I'm Candor,_ I remind myself. _I tell the truth._

"Your girlfriend was pissing me off yesterday and I didn't want to deal with her right then and there," I answer bluntly. "Your turn."

He hesitates. "Same reason."

"Seriously?" I turn and face him, raising my eyebrows.

"Yeah, she called me a cheater yesterday and I didn't want to face her." He rolls his eyes. "To think I chose her."

I look at him carefully, trying to detect some sort of lie, but find none. "So, did you break up or something?" I ask, hoping for the best.

He chuckles a little and nods. "Yeah, we're over. I just can't handle her brutal honesty. I mean, I know she's Candor – and so am I – but she goes a little too far." I do a silent little happy dance that he doesn't notice. "But, uh … you're kind of the first one to know we broke up, so just … please don't mention it. Like at all. We're waiting for the Choosing Ceremony when we'll probably choose different factions."

"Wait a minute. Are you going to choose another faction?"

"I'm actually thinking Erudite," he says thoughtfully. "My older brother transferred there a couple years ago and said it was pretty great."

My stomach drops. _Erudite._ He wants to transfer to _Erudite._

"Your uncle is Jack Kang," I remind him. "How do you think he'll feel about that?"

"My parents will probably disown me," he tells me like he doesn't even care. "Probably same with him. I'm already a disgrace for choosing to date Carrie."

"Wait, why?"

"Her mom transferred from Amity and her dad from Dauntless. She's not the best kid in that sense, even though she is a perfect Candor."

"Really? I didn't know her parents' old factions. I actually thought they were Candor-born."

"Nope."

The Hub slowly comes into view, and he turns to me.

"You know, I really like talking to you," he says suddenly. "You're pretty easy-going, did you know that?"

The only thing I can think of is to say, "Huh" like I'm some kind of pathetic weirdo who really doesn't know what to say when someone flatters her.

Oh wait. I _am_ that pathetic weirdo.

"You're actually kind of cute," he continues, and my eyes widen hugely. Seriously? He's choosing _now_ to do this?

"Thanks," I respond awkwardly.

"And since I think we'll be choosing different factions – after all, you're the perfect Candor and I want Erudite – I really wanted to do this before we probably never see each other again."

And suddenly he takes a step towards me, takes my head, and presses his lips firmly to mine.

It's pretty freakin' amazing, and my legs feel like jelly. When he lets me go, I feel like I'm on cloud nine.

Until I see Carrie, along with pretty much every other Abnegation, Candor, and Abnegation staring at us in shock from the windows of the bus going by.

Well crap.

 **Please review.**

 **Be brave.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. All credits go to Veronica Roth, except for my OCs.**

Liam breaks apart from me. He has not seen the bus.

I am humiliated. No one knows that Liam and Carrie broke up, so no one knows that he was _not_ cheating on her.

Drama on my aptitude test day. Could it be any worse?

"Liam." His name sounds strange on my tongue. "Why did you do that?"

"I really like you, Rebecca," he says honestly. "And I have made up my mind."

"Oh really?"

"You want to be Candor," he says simply. "So I will choose Candor with you."

My mouth drops open. "Are you kidding me? No! If you want to be Erudite you should be!"

"Watch it, or your Abnegation will show through," he teases, trying to lighten the mood.

"Be Erudite," I urge him. "You can do it, I know you can."

He pauses. "We won't be able to do anything if we don't get to the Hub, like right now."

We race into it and join the Candor group of kids. They're all staring at us, eyes wide.

Carrie steps up to me and punches me in the jaw.

I stumble backwards, only to be caught by several other Candor and beaten up even more. Four large boys who used to be my friends hold me down while others throw punches and kicks to my face, chest, stomach, and legs. Liam receives the same treatment, except six boys hold him down.

I know why. Cheating is the worst possible thing you can do in Candor. It shows that you are a liar – the worst kind of liar – to someone who likes or even loves you. So I take the beating, even though I know I don't deserve it.

But that doesn't stop me from screaming in pain. Abnegation and Amity stand there, not wanting to get in the middle of it. Erudite kids shout at the Candor to use their logic and not show too many marks and bruises on me. Dauntless kids have just gotten off the train and are actively trying to pull the Candor off. Of course, they're so much stronger, so in a few seconds Liam and I are free.

Then a woman dressed in black marches out from the Hub.

" _What happened here?_ " she demands.

Dauntless begin to try and explain, because clearly they know this woman. She tells them to shut up and be quiet and then ask the Candor.

"We saw Rebecca kissing Liam," Carrie explains. "Liam's my boyfriend, and cheating is the worst possible thing you can do in Candor. So we were just teaching them a lesson."

Liam looks stunned. "Carrie, we broke up yesterday!"

Murmurs begin throughout the group and the Dauntless woman uses a little more effort to make them be quiet.

"Are you kidding me?" she exclaims. "In Dauntless, it's OK to beat people up, but that is not what Candors do! You're all acting like a bunch of children!"

I look down, suddenly feeling ashamed. Why did I let Liam kiss me? He shouldn't have, he really shouldn't.

The woman looks at me shrewdly and then at Liam. "You two, come here. You're first for the aptitude test."

"Aw, come on, Tori!" a Dauntless boy whines. "Let the Dauntless go first."

"Shut up, Allen," the woman, apparently named Tori, tells him. His group of friends jeer at him playfully, shoving themselves around at each other and generally having a good time.

Suddenly I feel a pang in my heart. I never had friends like that.

"Let's _go,_ you two," Tori says sternly. Liam glances at me and then limps up to her.

I follow with a bit more pain. My lip is bleeding and my jaw is bruised, I think. My back is also stinging. But I don't complain.

Tori leads me into a room with a big chair in it and tells Liam to go in the next one. I stand there awkwardly, waiting for further instructions.

"Well, sit," she says impatiently after a bit.

"I, uh … I have a question," I tell her. "What's the Dauntless initiation like?"

Why the heck did I just ask that question? I'm not even curious about Dauntless initiation.

I am Candor.

She smiles slightly, just like Liam. "Having second thoughts, Rebecca?"

How did she know my name?

And how to I respond to that? "No, I'm just looking at my options, I guess."

She hesitates for a second. "I'm not really allowed to tell you anything about any initiation. It's supposed to be fully your choice, without any influence."

I nod. "That makes sense."

I make my way over to the chair and sit down. Tori fiddles with some vials and some serum and then, finally, she puts it into a syringe and comes over to me.

"I'm going to inject this into your neck. It shouldn't hurt very much."

I shiver and nod. I've never been much of a fan of serum. I had a bad experience with truth serum a while back and tried to avoid it ever since. But of course I don't really have a choice now.

She brushes my hair to the side and I feel the needle pierce my skin.

 **After the Simulation**

My eyes open slowly and I am brought back to the real world. Tori stands at a computer, typing something in.

"What'd I get?" I ask.

"Candor," is her short response.

I nod. I expected as much.

"You can go out that back door," she tells me. "It'll lead straight to the bus and you can go home."

"Thanks," I say, and leave quickly.

When I get back home, I let myself in and am immediately faced with my parents, who look absolutely _furious._

"Rebecca Venus Griffin, sit down right now," my father says in a low, dangerous tone.

It's very rare that someone calls me by my full name, so I know I'm in real trouble. I sit carefully against the hard, unwelcoming wall.

"I got Candor on my aptitude test," I squeak, which is very, _very_ lame.

They don't say a word. My mother begins to pace.

"Is Cassie still at school?" I ask nervously. I'm really trying hard to break the ice, but it doesn't work.

Once more, they ignore me.

Finally, my father asks me, "What are the principles of Candor, young lady?"

Uh-oh. Young lady. That's a bad term for me. But I don't waste any time in giving them the correct answer. "We blame duplicity and deception. We believe that dishonesty is the key fault in human nature which begins evil and war. We believe in the principle that honesty and openness will lead to a more peaceful and perfect society."

Father scowls deeply. "And is cheating with someone who is romantically involved with other persons … is that honest, young lady?"

Oh crap. They heard about it. The word must have passed fast.

"No, Father," I say quietly. "No, that is dishonest."

"Do you think you are an honest person?"

I swallow nervously. "Yes, Father. I am honest."

"Then _why did you kiss that damn boy?_ " he yells at me, and I shrink against the wall in pure terror.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. All credits go to Veronica Roth, except my OCs.**

My mother and father are glaring at me, waiting for my response. I wish desperately I could go back in time and push Liam away from me, but I can't.

I run through my repertoire of excuses. _Liam forced me to kiss him._ Or _we weren't actually kissing._

But those are lies. For the first time, I feel trapped by my obligation to tell the truth.

"Father, I am sorry," I tell him respectfully. "Liam had previously broken up with Carrie and so technically he wasn't off-limits."

" _LIAR!_ " my father roars, and slams me against the wall. "You are a _liar!_ You're not my daughter!"

My eyes widen. "Father, please."

" _DON'T SPEAK TO ME IN THAT CONDESCENDING TONE!_ " The walls seem to tremble. " _I TRUSTED YOU! YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO BE CANDOR!_ "

"Father, I'm not lying!" I protest, raising my voice. "I swear, I'm not!"

He's breathing hard. " _HOW DARE YOU DISGRACE THE FAMILY LIKE THAT! WE ARE BEING MADE FOOLS OF! JACK KANG IS BLAMING US BECAUSE THAT BOY IS HIS NEPHEW! YOU – RUINED – OUR – FAMILY! YOU – ARE – NOT – WELCOME – IN – THIS – HOME!_ " With each word, he slams my head against the wall.

He is overreacting. Far overreacting. But I realize that his oldest daughter is supposed to be this charming, truthful, honest, open teenage girl and I am, for once in my life, defying his expectations of me.

I can't take it anymore. My head is burning from the pain and my previous injuries from the Candor kids at the Hub are hurting even worse now.

I shove my father.

Yes, I do. It's the worst thing I can do at this moment, but I don't know what else to do. He falls and then rises swiftly with an even more furious roar, lunging at me, but I dodge it quickly and dart away, opening the door and running outside as fast as I can.

I run for hours, it seems, without knowing where I'm going. My tears fall fast, hard, and unmerciful. My chest is heaving with the effort but I don't care. I have to get away.

I can't stay here any longer. I can't be with my parents. They are furious at me. I have to transfer.

I'm Candor. I won't fit in any other faction. But anything would be better than having to face my parents every day after what I did.

 _I shoved my father._

I collapse against a wall, sobbing. Looking up, I realize that I'm in the Abnegation sector, but it doesn't matter. I'll find my way home.

"Are you alright?" a kind voice asks. I jerk my head up and see an Abnegation woman standing there with sympathetic eyes, looking at me with deep caring.

I hesitate. "Yes, Mrs. ..."

She smiles fondly. "Call me Natalie."

"Yes, I'm alright, Natalie," I assure her, wiping away my tears.

"Did you do your aptitude test today?" she asks quietly.

I nod slowly. "How did you know?"

"Not a lot of Candor usually start bawling in Abnegation. I thought that maybe something had gone wrong."

"No, I …"

Her eyes widen. "Are you Rebecca?"

Seriously, how the heck did word get around that fast?

I nod once more. "Yes, I'm Rebecca."

"Did your parents get mad at you?" she asks knowingly.

Is she like a magician or something?

I swallow. "Natalie, I …"

"I understand. You don't want to lie about it but you don't want to talk about it either. That's perfectly fine. Would you like to come into my house?"

That's pretty much the last thing I want to do right now, but I'm not going to refuse her. "Sure."

She takes my hand and walks me to a particular house. We enter and sit down at a kitchen table.

There's a slightly awkward silence for a while, until she speaks.

"I have two children," she begins. "One of them transferred to Erudite and the other to Dauntless."

I raise my eyebrows. That must be awful for her.

"Now they are both extremely successful. One is Jeanine Matthews' personal assistant, the other is an initiate trainer. I love them both with all my heart."

I smile.

"No matter what faction you choose tomorrow, your parents will always love you," she tells me. "My husband Andrew took a long time to get over their transferring. But eventually, he began visiting them, and now they are very close. Trust me, your parents will come around."

I sit there, just listening to this incredible woman speak.

"May I ask, what was your aptitude test result?"

"Candor," I whisper.

She nods. "What do you want to choose tomorrow?"

I hesitate. "I don't know."

"Rebecca, if I may. It's going to be hard, facing your parents every single day during Candor initiation. In another faction, it will be easier, trust me. On the other hand, if you really love Candor, then that's what you should choose."

I nod. "Do you recommend a faction?"

"Dauntless," she responds immediately. "It's full of life, full of fun, full of joy and adventure and excitement." She pauses. "I was Dauntless-born."

My eyebrows raise, searching her instinctively to see if she's lying. But she's not.

"The only reason I transferred to Abnegation was to be able to have a relationship with Andrew. I fit right in. It was worth it."

I have a random question and decide to ask it. "What's your daughter's name?"

"Beatrice," she tells me, smiling. "Beatrice Edith Prior."

"Beatrice," I muse. "That's a nice name."

Her smile widens. "When a Candor compliments me or my family, I know that I'm worth something."

I grow serious. "But maybe I'm not Candor."

She leans forward. " _You_ decide who you want to be, Rebecca. Don't let anyone else make that decision for you."

 **One Hour Later**

I wait in front of my house, trying to muster up the courage to go in. I really don't want to face my parents, but I know I have to.

I've made my decision regarding the factions, and I know I have made the right choice. My parents are just going to have to deal with it.

I enter silently, shutting the door behind me with barely any noise. I don't hear any response, so I creep up the stairs and prepare to go into my room.

"Rebecca." My mother's voice echoes throughout the small house.

I freeze and slowly turn around. "Hello, Mother."

"Where have you been?" she demands.

"Getting some air," I respond simply.

"Rebecca, you're going to have to be given sufficient punishment for what you did to your father."

"Not if I choose another faction," I tell her curtly, and go into my room.

My mother's gasp can be heard through the door. I collapse on my bed and begin to cry.

 _Dauntless._ I want Dauntless.

I'm going to leave my family.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. All credits go to Veronica Roth, except for my OCs.**

"Gordon, Liam." Max, a leader of Dauntless, reads his name off a piece of paper.

Oh crap. I just realized … I never told him I wasn't going to be staying in Candor.

As he stands and makes his way to the center, my heart begins pounding wildly. Is he going to choose Candor because he thinks I'm staying there? No, he can't do that.

He glances at me briefly. I shake my head firmly and try to mouth something along the lines of "I'm transferring too."

He turns away and takes the knife, slicing it firmly across his palm. Everyone can see him wince. He probably cut too hard.

He closes his fist and slowly holds it over a bowl. Then, finally, the drop of blood lands.

"Erudite," Max calls, and the Erudite cheer happily. Jack Kang, Liam's uncle, looks utterly defeated and depressed. Liam's father clenches his fists.

I, on the other hand, feel a flood of relief. I can't imagine what would have happened if he'd chosen Candor.

"Griffin, Rebecca," Max then calls.

I feel butterflies in my stomach. I inhale deeply and then exhale, glancing at my parents as I make my way to him.

My parents look hopeless. They're holding hands tightly and watching me.

 _I made my decision,_ I remind myself. _I'm going to choose Dauntless. I'm going to be like Beatrice._

But then slivers of doubt grow in me, and I wonder if I'm really going to do this.

I see a familiar blond, curly head next to my parents. _Cassie._ I forgot about her. What would she do if I left her forever? Who would slip her pieces of cake when Mother and Father got mad? Who would comfort her when she was crying? Who would braid her hair every morning and put black-and-white ribbons in it to symbolize Candor?

I can't, I realize. I can't choose Dauntless.

I am handed the knife. The room is deathly silent. Not even the Dauntless are whispering. I guess it's because of yesterday, with Liam.

I slice my hand gently, wincing like Liam because of the pain. I didn't expect it to hurt so much.

Blood wells up in my hand as I wait for enough to spill. Finally, I judge that it is enough.

 _Candor. Dauntless. Dauntless. Candor._

The bowls are next to each other. I open my fist suddenly, my eyes squeezed tightly so as not to see anyone's faces.

Over the Candor bowl.

But I had misjudged where the edge was, and the bowls are so close together my blood lands on both bowls – their outer edges. I gasp and look at Max.

He frowns, apparently disapproving of this.

One second passes. Two. Three.

Finally the blood slips – into the Dauntless bowl.

My heart sinks as I hear them cheer. I want to shout and say, "No! I chose Candor! I want Candor!" After all, I should tell the truth. But Max looks so scary, so intimidating, that I'm not sure I want to open my mouth.

I step off the platform, meeting my parents' and my sister's eyes.

My parents look horrified. My father is beyond angry and my mother's face is white.

Cassie looks confused. The poor girl probably doesn't understand what I've just done. After all, she's only eleven.

I mouth "I love you" to her and watch as she smiles. Then, I see how her smile drops as I go to sit with the Dauntless.

One of them makes room for me. I recognize him as the boy who complained about Dauntless kids not going first on their aptitude tests – I think his name is Allen.

Sure enough, I'm right. "Allen," he whispers to me. "And you're Rebecca?"

I nod sadly. "Yes."

"I'm guessing you wanted Candor, but the blood accidentally slipped away?"

I raise my eyebrows in astonishment. "How did you know?"

"You really looked devastated," he responds, and hands me a Band-Aid. "Here, put that on your cut."

"Thanks," I tell him genuinely. It's not every day someone does something like that for me.

The rest of the Choosing Ceremony passes slowly by, and I can't wait for it to be over. In about thirty minutes, it is, and the Dauntless suddenly leap from their seats and begin running.

My eyes grow wide. Oh, no. I don't want to do this. Why did I have to have my eyes closed when I let the stupid blood drop?

But I have no choice but to follow, and I find I'm surprisingly good at running. Candor don't really exercise much, so I didn't really try it out, but now I find I actually enjoy it.

Soon I'm towards the front a little, with Allen next to me. He's keeping pace easily with me, but I know he could go faster if he wanted to.

"You go," I tell him breathlessly. "I'll see you wherever we go."

He grins. "Thanks, Candor."

Then he shoots off, dodging other Dauntless expertly and making his way even more towards the front of the black-clad group.

Suddenly we're at the train tracks, and the Dauntless begin climbing. _What?_ I don't know how to climb like that!

Allen falls back a little. "Hey, Candor!" he calls. "Like this!"

Once most Dauntless have gone before us, Allen gets a running start and leaps onto the pole, then shinnies up expertly, almost like a snake.

"Your turn!" he calls from the top.

I try to do what he says and instead end up hitting my head on the pole. I wipe my sweaty hands on my Candor shirt and begin to climb.

It's maddeningly slow, and I feel like I'm going to slip every time I heave myself upwards, but eventually I'm there and Allen pulls me to the top so I can stand.

"Thanks," I tell him again. I really don't know why he's doing all this, but I'm not complaining.

"No problem, Candor," he responds, and takes off running.

I follow him, and suddenly I can hear the train coming towards us. I'm sure it's going to stop, but of course I'm wrong, as I see Dauntless leaping onto it.

Allen takes my hand and pulls me with him. He leaps into a train car first, then holds out his hand for me to take it. My stomach clenches nervously at his openness, but then shove the thoughts away and take it, pulling myself into the train.

I collapse against the wall, thoroughly exhausted. Allen chuckles a little and starts chatting with one of his friends, also in the train car.

A girl comes up to me. She's actually quite beautiful, with long blond hair and piercing blue eyes, kind of like Cassie. She wears blue clothing, so she's a transfer from Erudite.

"Savannah," she introduces herself. "You?"

"Rebecca," I respond.

"Oh, you're that kid who kissed Liam," she says immediately, and I want to crawl into a hole. Great, so everyone knows me.

"Look, that wasn't my fault," I defend myself. "He initiated the kiss, and technically he had broken up with Carrie the day before" –

"Hey, Candor, I'm not criticizing you," she interrupts. "Just putting a name to your face."

I swallow and nod nervously. "Got it. Sorry."

"Don't sweat it," she tells me easily. "So, you have any idea where these crazy black-clothed freaks are taking us?"

"Not a clue," I say. She chuckles, even though I don't find it very funny.

Allen comes up to us. "Oh, hey, Erudite. Couldn't help overhearing. We're heading to the entrance to Dauntless, in case you didn't know."

"Figured as much," she tells him. "And who're you?"

"Allen," he introduces himself.

"Savannah."

"Cool. You transfers should probably get some rest. The ride's about thirty minutes and this experience is a little nerve-wracking. But before you catch some z's, mind if I introduce you to my friends?"

I shrug. "I don't have a problem with that."

His friends come up. "This is Diesel, Samuel, Logan, Brandon, and Andrew." He gestures to each one as he says their names. "They've been my friends since the beginning of school. We also have some female friends, but they're in another train car."

"Cool," I tell him. "Nice to meet you all."

"Nice to meet you too, Candor," the guy named Brandon says. He's tall and well-built, with a short military haircut and hazel eyes. I nod at him.

"Rebecca," Savannah calls to me. "Check this out."

I go over to where she's standing. We're at a window and everything is flashing by, fast. It kind of looks like we're flying.

We go through the Candor sector and my heart sinks.

Stupid blood. Stupid hands. Why did I have to do that? Poor Cassie …

I feel like crying, but realize that I can't. I can't show weakness in front of everyone.

Instead of sleeping, I gaze out the window for the rest of the train ride.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. All credits go to Veronica Roth, except for my OCs.**

"Candor. Erudite. Come on, it's time to jump." Allen jogs over to us, grinning like he's excited about something.

"What do you mean, jump?" Savannah asks curiously. Once an Erudite, always an Erudite.

"Exactly what I said," he responds, eyes gleaming. "Follow me. Diesel, show them how it's done."

Diesel, one of his friends, grins at us. "Watch and learn, transfers."

The train doors open and I see other Dauntless from other train cars leaping out onto a roof and rolling. Diesel executes a perfect flip off the train, landing and rolling on the asphalt.

"Brandon, you go next," Allen tells them. Brandon jumps regularly off, but lands on his hands instead of his feet when he touches the ground.

The rest of the boys follow suit, and finally it's only Allen, Savannah, and I in the train car.

"I'll take the Candor with me," Allen tells Savannah and I. "You look like you could handle yourself, Erudite."

"Hey!" I protest. "I'm just as capable!"

He shoves me playfully and I stumble, not expecting it. "Get used to it, Candor."

Suddenly he grabs my hand and drags me to the edge.

"Let's go."

And suddenly it seems like we're flying. I feel weightless for a second, then we're falling.

"Roll!" Allen shouts, and so when we touch the ground I tuck my chin in and execute a sloppy somersault.

"Good enough," he compliments, as I stand there breathlessly and in awe of what I just did.

I turn just in time to see Savannah jumping, much better than I did. She rolls almost perfectly.

"Nice job, Nose," Allen tells her, impressed.

She shrugs modestly. "I just calculated the distance, force, and gravity, divided by" –

"La la la," he tells her, putting his fingers in his ears. "We're in Dauntless now, not Erudite."

I chuckle a little but immediately stop when I see a really intimidating-looking dude with piercings and tattoos all over him.

"Welcome to Dauntless," he tells us sharply. "I'm Eric, a Dauntless leader. Now you all know how to get on and off a train. The next step is getting into Dauntless." He gestures to a massive hole on the roof. "This is the entrance. Only transfers are allowed to go first, because Dauntless-borns already know pretty much everything. Any volunteers?"

I'm _definitely_ not going first. I glance over at the other transfers. There seem to be about fifteen or so of them, mostly Erudite. All of them look downright _terrified._

Suddenly Savannah raises her hand. "I'll go first."

Eric smirks. "Go ahead, Nose."

She trembles and I squeeze her hand encouragingly. She begins muttering something to herself that sounds suspiciously like logical math problems.

I watch her long, blond hair tumble down her back as she pulls it out of its ponytail, slowly and carefully. I feel tears prickle my eyes. She looks so much like Cassie.

"Let's go, Nose. We don't have all day," a Dauntless-born jeers. Allen shoots him a death glare.

Then she shrugs off her blue Erudite jacket and throws it at his face condescendingly. He dodges it by leaning back easily, but the point is made.

Savannah takes some deep breaths and I pray that she'll be alright.

Then she jumps, lifting her feet and dropping down gracefully, but everyone can hear her scream in terror.

"Who's next?" Eric asks, looking around at us transfers.

One of my Candor friends, Reyna, raises her hand. She looks tall and regal with her black-and-white clothing and her long, lush nut-brown hair. "I'll be."

I high-five her subtly as she passes, and she smiles at me. We've never been very close, but I have a feeling we'll grow closer soon.

She grimaces and then, before I can even start hoping that she'll be alright, she jumps, and there's no scream of fright as she goes.

"Next!" Eric calls.

Another Erudite raises his hand, and takes a particularly long time to jump. I don't know his name, but I'm sure Savannah would tell me if I asked.

Finally he does jump, and then I feel the urge to go myself. How dangerous could it be? Dauntless wouldn't kill off the transfers at the beginning.

I step forward. "I'll go now."

" _Sir,_ " Eric tells me, and I nod meekly.

"I'll go now, sir."

Slowly, I advance on the hole. I step right onto the edge and gaze down. I can't see a thing. I hear the slight chattering of voices, and that reassures me.

I close my eyes and take a single step forward.

Suddenly I'm tumbling through the air. My yell is torn away by the wind, and it feels like I'm falling for a long time.

 _I'm going to die,_ I think with absolute certainty. Cassie's beautiful face floats in front of my eyes, and I want to hold her one more time, just one more. Just to smell her scent of wildflowers from being out with the Amity so often. Just to hear her bubbly, joyful laugh. Just to witness her seriousness, her curiousness. Just to taste her misshapen, burnt cookies that somehow taste like the best cookies in the world.

 _I love you, baby sister,_ I think, and feel a tear slip from the corner of my eye.

Just as it does, I feel a huge thud and yelp in pain. I feel trapped in something and suddenly I'm panicking, trying to get myself out of it. I yell in terror, barely able to turn over.

"It's OK. Calm down," I hear Reyna's voice tell me, and I calm down slightly, relaxing just enough so that I can see a hand reaching down for me to grab it.

I do, and am lifted fully out of the … whatever it is. I look back at it and realize it is a tightly woven net.

"Well, that clears something up for stage two of initiation," someone jokes in the background. I look at the net warily.

"What's your name, Candor?" a pretty-looking girl asks. I'm about to say _Rebecca_ but she smiles. "You can only choose once."

I think about it. Then suddenly it comes to me. "Four," I declare. "I want to be named Four, because I was the fourth jumper."

She hesitates. "Um, I'm sorry, that name is taken."

My eyebrows raise. "Can't people have the same name?"

"Er – well, you see, um … this is sort of a special case, I don't think Four would like it very much, he's kind of sensitive about these kinds of things …"

"Wait – it's a he?" I demand.

She nods. "Yes. Anyway, what do you want your name to be?"

I think for a little bit more. I'm kind of annoyed that I couldn't have my first choice, but then, suddenly, the name comes to me.

"Becca," I decide. "Becca."

It's just enough change so that it sounds a little more Dauntless, but it's still similar to a Candor name, to remind me of my family.

"Fourth jumper, Becca!" the girl hollers, then turns to me. "I'm Tris, an initiate instructor."

I nod. "Nice to meet you, Tris."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. All credits go to Veronica Roth, except for my many OCs.**

Once all the initiates have jumped, Eric follows, executing a brilliant triple-flip on the way down and landing in a crouched position. Without any help, he leaps off with incredible grace and agility.

"Showoff," Tris mutters. Eric glares at her, but it doesn't seem to faze her.

"Soon you all will be learning moves like that," Eric tells us. "Now, Dauntless-borns, follow Christina. Transfers, follow Tris for a tour." He jogs down a hallway leading away from us.

Christina, a dark-skinned and pretty woman, grins at Tris. "Let's move, Dauntless-borns!" she shouts. "We don't have all day!"

Allen squeezes my shoulder unexpectedly as he passes by, and I flinch. He smirks playfully and heads off with the other Dauntless-born, not looking back.

Reyna smiles at me. "I think you have yourself an admirer there, Re – I mean Becca."

I'm absolutely shocked. "No way, Reyna."

"Oh, I forgot to tell you," she says. "I'm not Reyna anymore. It's just Rey now."

"Nice," I compliment her. "I like it."

"Thanks." She brushes a stray hair behind her ears.

Savannah joins our conversation. "I'm still Savannah. I actually like the name, so I'm keeping it."

I nod. "I know. That's why I didn't change my name _too_ much."

"Me too," Reyna – I mean Rey – chimes in. It's going to be weird, changing what we've known for years to call each other different names.

"Transfers, follow me," Tris calls, and we all fall in line.

A shy Erudite boy accidentally nudges me behind me. I turn around and his eyes widen like a deer in headlights.

"Oh no … I'm so sorry …" he mutters nervously.

"Chill, Theodore," Savannah tells him, pulling him to stand next to us instead of behind. "She's OK."

He swallows nervously. "It's Theo now, Savannah."

She smiles graciously at him. "Of course, Theo. I like it."

He beams proudly. "Thanks."

"Did you come because of Thomas?" Her voice is surprisingly gentle.

He nods. "Yeah, but I think I'm regretting it."

"Don't worry, Theo. You'll do great in initiation. I'll make sure of it."

His smile grows even wider. Savannah takes his hand and mouths to me, " _He came because his brother did._ "

I nod in understanding. The poor kid is like a mouse, so small, thin, and scrawny. I feel bad for thinking this, but I kind of don't really think that he'll make it into Dauntless.

Tris stops walking and turns around. "I'm taking you all to the Pit," she announces. "Eventually, you'll learn to call it home."

We follow her through an opening, and I inhale sharply in amazement at the place.

Loud music is playing – like _deafeningly_ loud music – but you can still barely hear it over the roar of white water below. There are shops and stores everywhere – tattoo parlors, weapons stores, pretty much everything you could think of that Dauntless would need – and the only way someone could get to some of them is to walk on platforms that don't have rails. One misstep and it could end your life.

"There is a difference, initiates, from bravery and stupidity." Tris's voice becomes really serious. "Suicide does not show you are brave. It shows that you are too much of a coward to face what's ahead." Her voice is cold. "A transfer in my initiate class committed suicide. _He_ was a coward. Because …" her voice cracks. "Because he wasn't able to face some things that were happening to him, he decided he couldn't go on. Don't make that same mistake, initiates. Show that you are strong, that you are brave. No matter what comes your way, no matter if you end up factionless … for a few minutes, hours, days, or even weeks, _you were Dauntless._ "

Rey squeezes my hand. Because we were both Candor, we have a thousand questions about what she's just said, but I know now is not the time.

Tris wipes away a tear. "Don't blame … don't blame yourself for something that happened that you couldn't control." She looks directly at me, and somehow I know that she knows I did not want Dauntless – I wanted Candor. "Destiny, fate, these things all play a part in each decision you make, no matter how big or small. You all have made big decisions today. You've all decided to leave your family, your friends, your home, for a faction you know nothing about. That in itself takes bravery, initiates. That is the first step to becoming Dauntless."

I am focused on each word she says, each expression she makes as she talks. My Candor instincts tell me she is blaming herself for something … something about that initiate who committed suicide. But I don't say a word, resisting the urge to speak what I think about it.

"During your initiation, you will learn that the Dauntless faction doesn't value wildness. We don't value disorder, disobedience. We value the simple, ordinary, everyday acts of bravery that seem so little but mean so much. We value protecting our city from any threats. We value the courage it takes not to jump off some of these walkways." She gestures behind her. "In some ways, we are similar to Abnegation." She chuckles darkly. "Our job is to protect, to help. We have cameras everywhere in Dauntless, not because there are threats, but because it is our responsibility to give the impression to the other factions that this city is very secure. Not that it's not, of course." She pauses. "Each faction has specific jobs that contribute to making this society, this city, a peaceful one. I know you all have probably learned this in school, but it's vital to making you better Dauntless."

"Tris!" a deep voice calls from behind us. Her face brightens when she sees who it is.

"T – Four!" she exclaims, running over to him and leaping into his arms, hugging him tightly.

He is tall, muscular, and well-built. Kind of hot too, actually. He looks blissful as Tris hugs him, grinning like a goofball.

Wait. _Four._ This is the guy who apparently "wouldn't like it" if I named myself Four.

Then Tris breaks apart from him and kisses him.

Now it all makes sense, I realize. Tris is obviously in a relationship with him, so she might have been slightly biased. She probably wanted the name to only belong to him.

Rey, Savannah, Theo and I are nearest them, so only we hear her whisper, "I'm so glad you're safe, Toby."

"I would never leave you, my little angel," he murmurs. "I'm safe. You don't need to worry."

"I was giving them a little speech about Al," she says quietly. Rey and I gasp audibly, unable to stop ourselves.

Albert. He was the son of an abusive father. It's common knowledge that he joined Dauntless to escape Candor. I was thirteen at the time – it was three years ago.

I had no idea he committed suicide.

Tris hears us and whirls around, her eyes wide. "Did you, um, did you hear anything?"

Rey and I can't lie, we were raised not to. My throat becomes dry, but we're luckily saved by none other than Theo.

"Hear what?" he asks curiously. "Oh shoot. Girls, I _told_ you to stop talking. Now you've distracted me too and we've missed what she was saying!" He seems genuinely upset. "I'm really sorry, Tris. Please don't punish us."

The little genius. I grin inwardly at his convincing acting.

Tris looks guilty about something. "Oh, um …" She looks up at Four, or whoever she called him earlier – Teddy? Tommy? – probably for some guidance.

Four advances on Theo threateningly. He cowers in fright, and I'm pretty sure that he's not acting anymore.

"What's your name, _initiate?_ " he snarls.


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. All credits go to Veronica Roth, except for my many OCs.**

Theo's lip trembles. The poor guy, he just wanted to help us.

"Um … Theo," he squeaks.

Four scowls. "Next time, _Theo_ , close your mouth."

He walks back to Tris, and Theo exhales.

"Theo James," Savannah scolds. "You almost got yourself in big trouble."

"Sorry, Savannah," he mutters.

I grin. "That was fantastic, Theo. Really cool of you. Thanks for sticking up for us."

"No problem," he responds, sounding a bit more confident.

"Transfers!" Tris raises her voice and addresses all of us. "This is Four. He's a leader and my husband. He'll be joining our tour and has decided to help train you all too. Now, let's go, I'm going to show you your initiate dorms and the training room."

We follow her through a hallway filled with Dauntless chattering. They stop and stare unashamedly at us and I hear several mutters, mostly about bets on who they think is going to make it.

Then they notice Four and shut up immediately, actually looking scared of him.

We're led through a bunch of hallways that leave me totally disoriented, but Theo is taking it all in stride and looking around with wide eyes. I have a feeling that he'll end up being the only one who will actually know his way around the compound soon.

Tris opens a door and ushers us in.

The room is massive. On one side is an array of punching bags, weights, and – are those _monkey bars?_ On another are just mats. In the very center of the room, there's a raised, circular platform.

"This is the initiate training room," she announces. "This is where you'll practice stage one. That ring in the center, that's where you'll fight each other. You practice on those mats. Some of you might be wondering why there are monkey bars. It's because Dauntless needs to have many more skills than just brute force. We teach agility, balance, some might even call it gymnastics. If you're small and can't win with brute force, this will be your chance to shine. Pay attention to it."

Savannah gives a side-long glance to Theo. His eyes are gleaming as he looks at the monkey bars.

"Follow me," she announces, and leads us out another door.

We go into a much, much smaller room. There are bunk beds filling up pretty much all of it, and the bathrooms and showers are to the side, with flimsy stall doors that I bet would fall if someone punched them.

"Is this the boys or the girls dorm?" I ask curiously.

Tris wheels around with an evil smile. "Both."

Immediately, complaints fill the air, most of them coming from me. I can't believe that the dorms are co-ed. That's just plain evil.

"Choose your bunks and get settled in. A few introductions and rules to Dauntless. One, the method of payment here is called credits. You get a specific number of credits during initiation, and depending on your rankings in all stages, you can get more or less. You use them to buy everything – your Dauntless clothes, possible tattoos and piercings, presents, whatever. Two, we don't encourage fights here. We're not reckless. If you get in a physical altercation with another initiate, expect to lose points on the rankings and possibly credits. Self control, initiates. Self control. Three, ask Dauntless-born to show you the cafeteria and wherever you need to go. Don't bother members. Number four, you may not leave the compound without a member of Dauntless. If you decide to break the rules, do it stealthily and don't let Eric catch you." She grins devilishly. "Now, training starts tomorrow at 8. If you're not there by then, points will be deducted. You can buy watches with the credits that you receive. The credits are virtual, so just say your name and that you're an initiate to whoever works there, and the machines will automatically deduct that many credits so you can buy it. I think that's it, so go and relax the rest of the day."

Savannah, Rey, Theo, and I look at each other.

"Should we pick bunks?" I ask.

Savannah nods. "Yeah. Theo, you want to share?"

He grins. "Sure, Savannah."

I glance at Rey. "Looks like we're going to be bunkmates, Rey," I tell her, and she chuckles.

We run over to two pairs of bunk beds next to each other. I call top bunk so Rey takes bottom, and Savannah takes the top bunk on her side.

"How should we mark that it's ours?" Rey asks from the floor as I hang out on my top bunk.

"I have an idea," I respond, and take out the Candor ribbon in my hair. I lay it on my pillow. "There."

"Great idea, Becca," Rey says.

"Hey, I just thought of something," Savannah tells us. "We should get tattoos."

I scoff. "Yeah, right. Not happening with me."

Rey grins. "I'm in."

Theo shakes his head. "I don't want to, yet. I'm not sure if I really want to get one."

So Theo and I decide to stay back at the dorm. Rey, the everlasting Candor, complains excessively.

"Come on, you don't have to get them, just help us decide!" she groans. "Please! I need some other voices for my decision!"

I consider it, then finally shrug. "Fine. But I'm not getting any tattoos."

Rey pumps her fist. "Yes! Theo?" she asks, turning to look at him.

He sighs and then nods. "OK, but I want to ask Tris a question so I'll hang back while you girls go first."

Savannah beams at him, and the three of us head out the dorms.

Suddenly I realize we have no idea how to get anywhere, but luck is on our side, and I see two of Allen's friends – Diesel and Brandon, I think – rough-housing playfully down the hall.

"Hey, boys!" Rey calls, and Savannah and I follow her as she runs up to them. "Mind giving us a tour and showing us where the tattoo parlor is?"

Diesel raises an eyebrow. "Confident you're getting into Dauntless?"

I step up to him. "Is that any of your business, _Diesel?_ " I ask, mustering up my threateningness and getting in his face.

He stares at me for a long time, and I begin to think I've gone too far, but finally he lets out a big laugh. Brandon laughs with him, and Diesel even goes so far as to wipe fake tears from his eyes.

"Oh, that was beautiful," Brandon says, still laughing. I scowl at them and eventually they stop, but there are still smiles on their faces.

"To the tattoo parlor, transfers!" Diesel announces, grinning, and beckons with his index finger. "Follow us!"


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. All credits go to Veronica Roth, except for my many OCs.**

Diesel and Brandon lead us through several tunnels and paths through the compound. It's so much bigger than I anticipated – not that I really anticipated being here at all. I briefly wonder how Theo is going to find his way to the tattoo parlor, but then shrug it off. He'll probably ask another Dauntless-born or try to find his way here. He seems like the perfect Erudite. I wonder why he left.

 _Stop thinking about everything, Becca,_ I tell myself. _Just enjoy being here._

Enjoy. The word sounds ridiculous. You don't really _enjoy_ anything in Candor. It's just honesty, truth, work, stress, etc.

But now I'm in Dauntless.

Diesel suddenly opens a door and I gasp and move backwards, involuntarily.

We're directly over the white water but about a hundred feet up, and there's no way to get over except for a flimsy little wooden board stretched out like a plank from us to about ten or so shops on the other side. One of them is the tattoo parlor. I gulp, terrified.

"Don't freak out," Diesel tells us. "One of the leaders, Tris's boyfriend" –

"Wait – Four?" I ask quickly.

He rolls his eyes. "Yes, him. Anyway, he gets tattoos a _lot_ and so he made Dauntless have some sort of safety mechanism or gadget that will ensure no one dies here. This is not a suicidal walkway, I'm telling you that now. Down below is a net. If you fall, you won't die, but you'll break several bones and it'll be almost impossible to get back up. That was good enough for Four. So this isn't as dangerous as it may seem. Now come on."

With those comforting words, Diesel jogs – yes, he _jogs!_ – across the wooden plank and reaches the other side with ease.

I turn to look at Brandon, but he tilts his head towards Diesel, indicating that we should go. "I'll go last."

"Alright," I confirm, turning to Rey and Savannah. "Who's first?"

Savannah grins mischievously. "Me."

She rubs her hands together excitedly and then begins walking, slowly and purposefully.

Once both feet touch the board, she runs lightly across it and reaches the other side quickly.

Rey then decides she wants to go, and walks considerably slower than Savannah had over the plank.

Then it's my turn. I walk slower than anyone else, yelping at every slight movement the board makes.

"It's OK, Becca," Savannah encourages, when I become paralyzed with terror as it tilts slightly. "You can do it. Just a couple more steps. Remember, there's a net below to catch you if you fall."

Then Rey makes eye contact with me, and I know she's coming up with a great thing to say.

And she certainly does. "Becca," she calls to me. "Do this for Cassie. Be strong for your baby sister."

That gives me a spurt of massive strength, and I take a deep breath and take five more steps without letting myself think about it too much. Then it wears out.

 _One foot in front of the other, Becca,_ I tell myself. _Soon you'll be on the other side._

Finally, I reach the last step, and Savannah holds out her hand so I can grab it and pull myself over. I take it and land firmly on the other side.

I exhale a sigh of relief. That was really nerve-wracking.

"Thanks," I tell my new friends, looking especially at Rey.

Brandon crosses with ease, maybe even better than Diesel, swaying with the rhythm of the plank like he'd been doing it since he was born – which he probably had been.

In a few seconds, he jumps onto the ground on this side, and him and Diesel lead us to the tattoo parlor.

Diesel opens the door and ushers us in. A bell rings, letting whoever's here know that we've entered.

Almost immediately, the same woman who did my aptitude test comes out from behind a door marked Employees Only. Brandon steps forward.

"Hi, Tori. These transfers are here to get tattoos."

I hold my hands up in defense. "Nuh uh uh. I'm not getting one. Just my friends, Rey and Savannah."

Tori nods. "Alright then. Diesel, Brandon, I can take it from here. You should get back to your dorm room."

They shrug, say goodbye to us, and leave quickly. I watch briefly as they jog over the plank with no qualms at all about the hundred-foot-drop below.

"So, girls, come on back and I can show you some popular tattoo designs," Tori tells Savannah and Rey.

Savannah clears her throat. "Actually, um, I had something particular in mind, ma'am."

"Tori will do just fine," Tori tells her. "And sure. I just need your friend to go first, because since you want to come up with your own, it'll take much more time. What are your Dauntless names?"

"I'm Savannah," Savannah introduces herself. "And this is Rey, and Becca."

"My tattoos are fifteen credits each, and the ones you tell me how to do are twenty. Are you sure want to spend it on this?"

"Absolutely positive," Rey chimes in.

Tori smiles slightly with a corner of her mouth. "Good. Rey, please follow me and we can select what you want."

She hesitates. "Can my friends come too, please?"

The smile on Tori's face grows. "Of course."

She leads us through a door on the right, and I gasp, in awe of the place.

The room is absolutely _full_ of tattoo designs. Each is drawn on a simple white piece of paper and tacked onto walls, a table, chairs, with thumb tacks. Some of them even overlap. There's gotta be at least a hundred everywhere. Rey's eyes widen in astonishment.

"Browse around. You have around twenty minutes to decide. Longer than that and there will almost definitely be another customer coming in, and there really can't be more than three people in this room." Tori nods to us before leaving.

Immediately a tattoo design catches my eye. It's a majestic bird flying upwards, and on its outstretched wings and body are words made up of different sizes of letters and a really cool font.

 _Brave. Courageous. Fearless. Love. Beauty. Inspire. Undefeatable. Powerful. Transform._

Where the bird's back ends, a single word is written, blending into the bird artfully and giving the appearance that the word is becoming one with the bird.

 _Dauntless._

"That's a beautiful one," I tell Rey, gesturing to it. Her eyes light up.

"I actually like that, Becca! Thanks!" She crosses the room to where it is tacked onto the wall and runs her finger gently along the outline of the bird. "This is really nice."

I grin. "Glad I could help, Rey."

"I knew you would," she smiles back. "Now, should I go get Tori or wait, or what?"

I shrug. "You should probably go find her."

As soon as she leaves, I turn to Savannah. "What was the tattoo that you had in mind?"


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. All credits go to Veronica Roth, except for my many OCs.**

Savannah grins. "It's a surprise."

My eyebrows lower, quickly. "But you were the one begging for me to come and give you advice!"

She nods slowly. "I was doing it for Rey. If you hadn't noticed, she seems shy around you."

Nothing could have shocked me more. "Are you kidding me? That's so untrue!"

Savannah shakes her head. "I'm actually surprised you didn't notice, having been Candor and all that. She's always fidgeting around you, bouncing on her toes or nervously fixing her hair … it's like you have your own personal Theo."

I laugh. "We've never really been friends. I wonder why she's so nervous."

"Maybe because of that," Savannah suggests, and I look at her in confusion. "Maybe because you two have never been friends, and all of a sudden you're acting like her best friend, maybe she's a little overwhelmed."

"Trust me, Rey is _not_ the type of person to get overwhelmed," I assure her. I'm not quite sure what my Erudite friend is getting at, but I'm willing to listen.

"But you just said you didn't know her that well. OK, let's say you have someone you don't really like, but you don't really hate. You're not going to share your personal life with that someone, you're just going to be there and let that person blend into the background. Now, let's say you transfer and that same someone is there, but all of a sudden she's super-friendly to you and acts like she's known you – like _really_ known you – her whole life. How would you feel?"

I look at Savannah, impressed. "Wow, Savannah. You're really" –

Suddenly I realize something. "You sneak!" I accuse. "You totally diverted the topic away from your tattoo! I can't believe I fell for it that easily!"

She smirks. "I got it while it lasted."

I playfully slap her, doing something I _never_ do in Candor – and probably the same with her in Erudite. She stiffens for a second instinctively, then loosens up.

"Sorry," I say nervously.

"It's alright," she tells me.

"Wait, so really, what is your tattoo?" I ask curiously.

"I told you, it's a surprise," she responds, her eyes gleaming.

I groan. "You've gotta be kidding me." I begin looking around at some other tattoo ideas, finding them really interesting.

One is of a knife with some sort of liquid dripping off from it. I can't really tell what kind of liquid it is because the ink used to sketch this is all black, but I figure it's blood. The hilt of the knife has some sort of really complicated but beautiful design on it with lines and dots.

I move on to the next one that catches my eye.

That one happens to be a regular tattoo of the Dauntless symbol – flames with a bold circle encircling it. The flames seem wild and relentless.

The next one is a young girl. Despite the black color, she is outlined with great detail and beauty. She is curly-haired and has big eyes. She has a happy smile on her face. The one next to it is of another picture but in a boy's gender, so shorter hair, slightly smaller eyes, etc. Then there are a bunch of variations of those two, under a label marked _Children Tattoos._

"Those are nice," I comment, gesturing to those. Savannah looks up from examining a stately owl perched on a tree branch and comes over.

"Yeah," she says. "But slightly sexist. Like, the boys are a little bit taller and only they have short hair."

I chuckle a little. "Dauntless totally support women's rights, so I'm going to let this one slide."

Savannah nods. "Me too."

We continue examining the tattoos until Rey comes in, beaming.

"Did you get it?" I ask her, excited. She nods and pulls up her left shirtsleeve a little, revealing the tattoo.

"That's incredible," I tell her admiringly. "Congratulations, Rey!"

"Thanks, Becca," she responds, smiling wider than I would have thought possible. "Your turn, Savannah."

She leaves to go see Tori, and only then do I remember Theo.

"Hey, where's Theo?" I ask Rey, not that she'll know the answer.

She shrugs. "I have no idea. I would have thought he'd be here by now, though."

"Yeah, totally!" I exclaim. Then I pause and think a bit. "Well, I'm sure that if he's not here, there's got to be a good reason why," I muse. "He said he had to ask Tris a question. Slightly strange. Asking a question shouldn't have taken this long."

"Maybe there were, like, a hundred follow-up questions?" Rey half-jokes.

I frown. "I'm actually kind of worried. Do you think he got lost?"

"Nah, Theo was memorizing, like, every single spot of the Dauntless compound when we were taking the tour."

"But this is a different spot of Dauntless. It wasn't on the tour," I point out. Then, suddenly, I'm struck with an awful, a terrible thought. I rush out of the room, then out of the shop, and gaze down at the long drop, looking for a possibly broken-bodied figure on the net below.

Finally, after a couple minutes of thorough searching, I decide he hasn't fallen and I breathe a sigh of relief. Even though the net's down there, it's still really dangerous if someone did fall.

I go back inside and through the door into the room covered with tattoo designs. Rey's still examining some ideas, just for the fun of it.

"You thought he had fallen," she commented without taking her eyes off the particular design she was looking at.

I feel slightly annoyed at her. "Yeah, while you were here examining tattoo designs instead of checking to see if your friend was dead!"

Rey spins around and glares at me with intense fire in her eyes. "Don't insult me, Becca."

"What I said wasn't even an insult!" I retort.

She sighs and rubs her eyes wearily. "Listen, Becca, I really don't want to get in a fight with you right now. Look behind you."

I do, and see that there's a window angled so that it shows the board and the drop clearly.

"If Theo had fallen while we were here, I would have noticed."

I shift on my two feet, ashamed that I was just plain wrong. Rey crosses the room and lifts up my chin.

"Hey, it's OK. It was an honest mistake, Becca. I'm not mad at you."

I smile gratefully at her. "Thanks, Rey."

"It's what friends do, right?"

I nod decisively. "Yeah. It's what friends do."

…

Savannah comes back into the room in about an hour. She's beaming from ear to ear. Immediately, Rey and I both clamor to see what she got, but she shakes her head, enjoying our pleading.

"Nope, not happening. You can't see it until we're back at the dorm. Nuh uh. Hey, stop that, Becca!"

I had tried to tickle her, which made her squeal like a little child and move away.

I grin triumphantly. I had found her weakness.

Immediately, I lunge at her and grab her while Rey advances and then proceeds to tickle her. Savannah screams and tries to get away, flailing her arms and legs wildly, but Rey and I, between our very loud laughter, manage to restrain her.

"Tell us!" I plead as she lands a hard kick to my knee.

"Never!" she yells, laughing too.

Suddenly the door bangs open and a very mad Tori stalks in and glares at us. I drop Savannah immediately and we face her, trying to contain our laughter.

"If the rest of your fellow initiates are like this, I am dreading the day when they become members," she scolds us. "The racket was so bad one of my clients had to leave. A credit is docked from each of you. Next time, the consequences will be much worse. Get out."


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. Credits go to Veronica Roth, excluding my OCs.**

The good news is, Tori then rolls her eyes and smiles slightly. "Although, of course, I was exactly like you at when I was your age, so I can't blame you very much. By the way, dinner is soon, so I can walk you there."

The bad news is, I fall off the wooden board.

Yup. That's just how pathetically stupid I am. I look up to talk to Rey and Savannah and misplace my steps, and before I know it, I'm falling.

There's no guardian angel. There's no heroic Rey, or heroic Savannah, or even heroic Tori (if by a miniscule chance I survive this, I'm going to chew them out for this).

I scream in terror, but the wind whips the words out of my mouth. I'm certain I'm going to die, or at least fall unconscious.

I want to say goodbye to Cassie one last time. Just one more.

 _I'm sorry, baby sister. I did everything I could. I love you._

Then I thud down on something that is feels just slightly better than landing on jagged rocks.

My screaming abruptly comes to a stop. Pain shoots through my whole body, but not awful pain. Just like the kind of pain I felt when I jumped into Dauntless.

 _Wow, they make this fall out to be a lot harder than it actually is,_ I think, slightly relieved, and then realize why they did it.

There's no freakin' way to get to the top. I'm trapped down here.

I can barely see Tori, Rey, or Savannah, and the white, rushing water is so loud I can't hear them either. I know Tori is trying to tell me something, but for the life of me I can't figure out what it is.

Then I see one tiny figure run off. It looks suspiciously like Rey. For a second I'm appalled as to why she abandoned me, but then realize that she probably went to get a ladder or something.

But I'm wrong. A few minutes later, she returns with another person – very large, muscular, and bulky.

 _Four._

"Initiate!" His voice is so loud I can hear him perfectly, somehow. Then I realize he's holding something up to his mouth. I can't see what it is, but I guess it's a microphone or amplifier. "Look to your right!"

I do. Jagged rocks stick out the whole way up. My eyes widen as I realize what he means.

"You know what to do!" his voice booms. "Do not be afraid! You are a Dauntless initiate!"

I stand up as best as I can, wobbling a little on the unsteady net. Then I make my way over to the jagged rocks.

Am I really going to do this? I gaze up at the wooden board, a hundred feet up. It seems slightly ridiculous.

If my parents could see me now …

That thought makes me chuckle, and I tell myself it's now or never. I grasp the highest rocks I can and heave myself up, trying to find footholds to rest my feet in.

I feel like I'm going to drop for a second from the exertion, but then I find a rock I could rest both feet on that's slightly too close to my hands for comfort.

 _Perfect._ That leaves me just enough room to let go of one hand and grasp a higher rock with my right hand.

I repeat that process forever. My arms and legs begin to ache, and all of a sudden I feel a hot liquid trickling down my hand.

My hands are bleeding from the sharp rocks. I cry out in pain as that specific cut makes contact with another sharp point, but there's nothing I can do about it.

I begin sobbing. I can't do this. It's not right. There should be someone to save me. A ladder or something. My tears join with the blood now flowing from my palms and drip down into the roaring white water below.

I'm not Dauntless. I know I'm not. I'm going to become factionless.

 _I'm going to become factionless._ I remember the hunched, moaning figures near Abnegation when I was walking Cassie to Amity for her physical therapy sessions. Abnegation is almost the poorest faction, yet they take the responsibility of feeding the factionless.

 _If I ever get out of here alive,_ I promise, _I will do my best to ensure the factionless lead better lives._

Instinctively, I look down. I'm only about ten feet up. It's hopeless. I can't do it.

My tears begin to pour and so does my blood. I feel so, so weak. I haven't done this much exercise since – since never. I've never felt like my bones and muscles were turning to fire and jelly at the same time with my fear adrenaline so high.

"Initiate!" Four's voice booms. "Catch!"

All of a sudden, something flies down to me. I take a leap of faith – and a physical one too – and jump onto it, grasping with all my might.

It wavers for a second, then holds tight. I realize it's a rope.

"You have to climb up!" His voice echoes what he's saying. "We can't pull you!"

I grit my teeth and grasp a higher spot on the rope, heaving myself up. It's nerve-wracking and exhausting, but at least it's a little better than climbing up those jagged rocks.

I make faster progress than before, developing a steady rhythm as I place one hand in front of the other, one foot a little higher than the other.

Finally, _finally,_ I reach the top. My tears are mixed with blood – on my face – and my hands are a mess, my palms almost completely red with blood.

Tori pulls me up with surprising strength and I collapse on the board, unable to move.

"Not every initiate can climb up a rope that well," Four tells me. "Although foolish to fall like that, it was very Dauntless of you to not give up. There are many members who would."

Is that … is that a compliment? I want to look at Four, to see if he's really telling the truth, but I can barely move my eyeballs around my eyes, much less my head (he's standing behind me).

"You're going to have to walk to the infirmary," he tells me. "We don't carry Dauntless around here."

I can't even groan, I'm too tired. Rey and Savannah pull me up, concerned about me, and they lift my arms and put them on their shoulders so I can hobble along.

"No," Four says sharply. "She can walk."

I suck in a huge breath of air and stumble a little, trying my best to walk across the last bit of the board.

"Four, she should at least get some help until we're on the other side," Tori pleads, but I can't see her. "We both know she won't have the strength to get back up if she falls again."

"The initiate can handle it, Tori. Don't contradict me."

"Your wife wouldn't like it very much if you insulted me, would she, Four?"

There is a long pause, until Four finally snaps, "Get her across. No more."

"Savannah, you take her right side. I'll take her left," Tori instructs. I know Rey would mean well, but honestly, Savannah seems a little stronger than her.

I feel them lift me up with their combined effort and carry me gently across. It hurts a bit, but I barely feel it. My whole body has pretty much shut down.

As soon as they gently put me down, I collapse. My legs just can't support me. I feel my eyes rolling back in my head, and the last thing I hear is Four cursing loudly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. Credits go to Veronica Roth, excluding my OCs.**

I wake up feeling like I was just stuck in a freezer.

I'm shivering and my teeth are chattering. I'm sure my skin is blue. I feel like I can't breathe, or move.

Then I realize I'm lying on something soft. About five heavy blankets are piled on top of me, but it does nothing about the fact that there are stacks of freezing-cold ice all around my body.

I crack my eyes open gently, groaning at the effort it takes to do just that much.

"Oh, good, you're up," a woman says immediately, coming into my line of sight. "How are you feeling?"

"Cold," I mutter.

She chuckles. "Yes, that ice saved your life. It froze up your cuts and bruises so the blood would stop flowing. Bandages didn't do a thing against it. You're lucky you're here right now."

"Who are you?" I ask weakly, against my will. I didn't want to be so blunt, but no going back now.

As if reading my thoughts, she chuckles a little. "I'm sorry, I forgot you don't know me. Pretty much everyone in the compound does. I'm Marlene, Head Nurse at the infirmary."

I nod and groan at the effort it takes me.

"Drink this," she instructs me, handing me a bottle of something very hot. I hug it for a second, letting the heat seep through me, and then I drink a tiny sip of it. It burns my tongue, but nothing could have been a better feeling.

It actually tastes delicious.

"What is this?" I ask curiously.

"This, initiate, is called apple cider. It has high sugar in it and you need more sugar to get your blood flowing better. Plus, it tastes amazing, so that's a bonus. Drink up. Are you up to seeing your friends?"

"Yeah," I answer, and she smiles. "Alright then. They're waiting outside to see you."

She bustles away and I take a long, deep drink of the scalding apple cider.

"Becca!" Rey shouts, running over to my bed. I wince at the loud volume. She hugs me tightly, and I want to scream in pain, but I can't do that to my friend.

"Excuse me! Initiate, you are not permitted to touch your friend," Marlene's voice comes sternly from a bit away. "She's still sick."

Savannah and then Theo run over to me. I dimly wonder where he's been the whole time, but realize now is not the time to question it.

"What happened after I passed out?" I ask groggily.

"Well, Four started cursing," Savannah tells me, "and then called some Dauntless members to carry you into the infirmary. Marlene started yelling at Four, which I found quite entertaining – apparently they know each other and she's not intimidated the least by him. We found Theo" –

"Not yet," Theo says, raising an index finger to stop her. "I want to tell her."

She smiles slowly. "Alright. Anyway, we found Theo and brought him here. Allen and his friends actually seemed quite intent on wanting to see you, but the Dauntless-born had a group activity or something and so they had to go."

"How long was I out?"

"About the whole night," Rey chimes in. "It's six in the morning."

My eyes widen. "Were you three out there the whole night?" I ask incredulously.

Savannah nods. "Of course. We were waiting for you to wake up."

I gape. "You shouldn't have done that! It's the first day of training today, you need your rest!"

"You do too," Theo points out, which I don't find totally relevant to the topic of conversation, but I turn weakly to focus on him. "Four said that you have to train today or become factionless."

I briefly remember my promise about helping them and feel dread in my stomach. "I can't train today."

"That's what I said," Marlene comments, joining our conversation. "But does Four listen? _Nooo._ So I went and talked to Tris and she said she'd try to convince him to change his mind. I'm still waiting for a response."

I smile at Marlene. "Thank you," I tell her genuinely. "That really means a lot to me."

"It's not personal, initiate. You suffered severe injuries and you can't undergo rigorous, physical training the day after."

I nod at her and turn back to my friends. "Thank _you,_ guys," I tell them. "I don't know what I would have done without you."

Suddenly, something hits me. "Savannah, I still need to see your tattoo," I remind her.

She hides a smile. "After you get released."

I shake my head vigorously and then cry out because of the unexpected pain. Recovering quickly, I snap playfully, "Nuh uh. You're not getting away with it that easily, Savannah."

Theo turns to look at her. "You got a tattoo, Savannah?"

Savannah smiles slightly. "Yeah."

"Can I see it?"

She blushes. "Maybe, uh, later, Theo, OK?"

"Sure," he tells her.

Suddenly the infirmary door is flung open and a furious Tris marches inside. She's practically trembling with rage.

Directly after her, Four jogs in, looking apologetic and trying to say something as Tris storms up to Marlene.

"Where's the initiate?" she practically yells, and Marlene grabs her by the shoulders.

"Whoa, Tris. Calm down."

"Do _not_ tell me to calm down!" she shrieks. " _Where is the initiate?_ "

Marlene swallows nervously. "She is still severely injured and can't handle this kind of noise. You will have to lower your voice before I can allow you to see her."

Marlene's right. Tris's yelling voice sounds like a thousand drums are having a little party in my head. It's so bad my friends' faces float around in front of my eyes.

Tris gradually calms down, and I breathe a sigh of relief. Tris jogs over to my bed.

"I'm sorry about that, Becca," she tells me, quieter and gentler now. "My husband is being quite ridiculous at the moment. You're free to rest here for the day, but you should be in training tomorrow, is that OK?"

I'm slightly surprised she calls me by my real name – I'm not actually sure how she knows it – and then I'm relieved I don't have to train.

Four stalks up to Tris with narrowed eyes. "I never said that, Tris." His voice is low and threatening.

Tris rounds on him. "Don't start now," she warns him. "We'll discuss this and your unusual cruelty to the initiates later. For now, I need to talk to Becca. If everyone would please excuse me …"

Theo, Savannah, and Rey wave gently to me before they leave, albeit reluctantly.

"Toby," Tris tells him quietly, probably thinking I can't – but I can. "I promise, I'll be back soon. Please."

He rolls his eyes. "Tris, I'm really not very happy with you right now."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. But this is important."

"Not you sending me out. You giving the initiate permission to stay in the infirmary today."

"Have you seen her? They had to freeze her body to stop the blood!" Tris protests. "The bandages were torn as soon as they were put on from the amount of liquid gushing out from her body! You can't expect her to do training today."

He swallows and considers it, then finally nods. "I guess I see your point now. I'll see you at our apartment soon."

Tris nods to him and waits until he leaves. As soon as the doors shut, she turns to me.

"You met my mother," she tells me quietly.

I'm confused for a second, then all of a sudden it hits me. "Your mom is, uh …" I search for a second to find the right name, then get it. "Natalie. Your mom's Natalie from Abnegation."

She nods.

"You're … you're Beatrice," I tell her slowly, piecing it all together. "Your brother's Caleb, Jeanine Matthews' personal assistant."

"That's right." Tris sighs. "I need you to tell me everything you know about your little sister."


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. Credits go to Veronica Roth, excluding my OCs.**

"Wait – Cassie?" I ask, thoroughly confused.

Tris nods grimly.

"Why do you need me to tell you about _Cassie?_ "

Tris hesitates. "Becca … your younger sister snuck into the Dauntless compound at three o'clock in the morning morning."

I can only imagine what my face looks like – probably a mix of outrage, shock, surprise, maybe even a little pride.

" _What?_ " I exclaim. So many things are running through my head. "How … how did she get in?"

"She climbed up to the train tracks at one thirty in the morning and waited for a train. Somehow she knew when to get off and did so without injury. She jumped into Dauntless and at that point we found her on the security cameras."

"Is she alright?" I ignore the pain shooting through me as I sit up and stare at Tris. "Is my baby sister OK?"

Tris nods. "Yes, of course. We returned her to Candor without any harm done to her."

Disappointment flashes through me. I wanted to see Cassie … just this once.

"Wait, so do you have any idea how she knew how to get in to Dauntless?"

Tris nods. "We have our suspicions. We think she followed Dauntless after the Choosing Ceremony. When they began to get out, she continued and ended up back in the Candor sector. She was missing for a couple hours after the Choosing Ceremony, which is why we think what we do."

"Tris … I need to see her."

Shockingly enough, Tris nods. "I know. That's why I felt so strongly about giving you the day off, so you can sneak to Candor. Marlene!" she calls.

Marlene jogs over to us. "Does the initiate need it now, Tris?"

"Yes." Tris nods her head, and Marlene produces a small vial of clear liquid. Tris takes it and Marlene produces a needle and syringe. "This is from my brother in Erudite. He developed an instant healing serum for minor injuries. All that is left now of your injuries are bruises and cuts. Drink a bottle of water an hour, and that headache should go away." She hesitates. "Oh, and no one besides Marlene and I know about this serum, so be a little hush-hush about it. Don't even tell your friends."

I nod. Marlene fills the syringe with the serum and places it on my neck. I shiver slightly. I'm really not a huge fan of needles and serums (bad truth serum experience).

But I stay absolutely still after that tiny shiver and, even when Marlene is emptying the serum into my veins, I don't make a peep.

And then she takes the needle from my neck and waits.

 _One. Two. Thr –_

Suddenly I feel so much more awake, my brain alert and all pain gone. I grin widely.

"It worked!" I exclaim. My grin grows. "I get to see Cassie!"

" _Shh!_ " Tris cautions me, putting a finger to her lips. "Quiet down."

I nod, a little more serious. "Sorry. So how do I get to Candor?"

"Here's your backpack," Tris tells me, and hands me a black backpack. "Everything you'll need is in it. Don't make eye contact with anyone. But in case anyone asks, look in the backpack. If you get hungry, look in the backpack. I promise, we've covered everything."

"OK," I say, beaming. "Thank you so much, Tris and Marlene."

"No problem," Tris tells me. "I know you really want to see your sister right now, and there's good reason for it. I need you back in the infirmary by six o'clock, no later. Otherwise you'll probably become factionless, and I won't be able to do anything about it."

I nod nervously, then get out of the ice-cold bed and walk to the infirmary doors.

"Oh, and Becca?" Tris calls, and I turn around to face her. "Good luck."

I smile widely. "Thank you, Tris."

She nods graciously and I leave the infirmary.

I rummage through the backpack and find a map of the compound. _Perfect._ The infirmary is circled in black ink and I use the "Recommended Route" to get out of the compound.

It's short and quick and I meet pretty much no one, which is actually quite lucky for me. In about three minutes, I exit the compound and look around in the strange, blazing light.

I look through the backpack for another map and find one. Something catches my eye on the back of it and I turn it over.

 _At this point you should be outside the compound. You might see that the map on the other side of this paper is decorated with little red dots on it. Those are where the cameras are. Avoid them or it will be hopeless. Just in case, I'll do my best to delete all footage of today's surveillance, but I might not be able to, so DON'T GET CAUGHT BY CAMERAS._

 _-Tris_

I smile slightly and turn the page over. Sure enough, the city is decorated with red dots. Wow. There are a _lot_ of them. I never realized there were so many cameras in the city.

I follow the map, sometimes edging along walls or even ducking a little so I don't get caught by cameras.

It takes thirty minutes of meticulous work, but finally I exit Dauntless and head onto the train. There are no cameras there, so I get to relax.

I remember what Tris told me – to drink a bottle of water an hour – and I then rummage through the backpack. Sure enough, I find ten bottles of water and gulp one of them down quickly, enjoying the freshness and coolness of it (I'm no longer cold).

Then I remember I haven't eaten or drank anything since yesterday morning, before the Choosing Ceremony. As if on cue, my stomach rumbles. Another quick little search through the pack brings out a corned-beef-and-mayonnaise sandwich. I eat it quickly and am still hungry, but I know that I have to save the rest of the food – even though I don't know what it is yet – for later, or I'll be left with no food for the rest of the day.

Soon enough, the map shows that I have to get off at a specific stop that I'm at. Surprisingly, the train actually comes to a halt and I step out, sliding between the cameras that I know are there.

Another thirty minutes and I find that I'm in the Candor sector. I still wear my Candor clothing, so I can blend in fairly well, but I don't want to take any chances. I sneak through towards my parents' house.

When I see it, a lump forms in my throat. I contemplate going up and knocking on the door. Then I realize that would be a totally stupid idea.

I wonder if I could break in. Yesterday morning, the mere thought of that would have made me laugh, but I need to talk to Cassie and I'll do anything I can to do so.

But there's no need for any of that. A familiar voice asks suddenly, "Rebecca?"

My eyes widen and I spin around. Sure enough, my baby sister stands there with a look of confusion on her face.

"How are you here?" she asks timidly.

I feel tears form at the corners of my eyes and the only thing I can think to say is, "Hello, Cassie."


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. Credits go to Veronica Roth, excluding my many OCs.**

Cassie stares at me and then runs to me, grasping me in a tight hug. "Rebecca!"

I grunt a little from her strength. "Cassie, please – the ribs, the ribs!"

She softens her grip slightly and I decide to talk to her now.

"I need to talk to you, baby sister," I tell her. "What were you doing sneaking into the Dauntless compound?"

A tear slips from Cassie's eye as she lets go of me and looks fully into my eyes. "Why did you go, Rebecca? Why did you leave me with Mother and Father?"

Suddenly I know something horrible has happened. "Cassie, sweetie, what's wrong?"

Cassie begins sobbing. "Becky …" she uses her own little private nickname for me, something she only does when she's very emotional about something. "Father punched me."

My eyes go wide and I feel hatred for my father, who hurt someone so sweet and innocent as my baby sister – his own _daughter._

"Where did he punch you, Cassie?" I ask her seriously.

She points to her stomach, then her jaw, then her nose. _Three places._ I look closer and see bruises growing there. It must have been pretty recent – the bruises aren't fully developed. _Probably yesterday morning._

"Why, Cassie?"

She swallows nervously. "Father was mad about you leaving and I said maybe because you didn't like it here. Then he threw me against a wall and punched me. Mother didn't do anything. She let him." Cassie is full-on crying now, and buries her head in my shoulder. "Why did they do that to me, Becky?"

I hug Cassie tightly. "Father was very angry, Cassie, and you know not to antagonize him when he's like that. He tells the truth how he sees it."

"He … he … he punched me. That's not truth, that's abuse," she sobs, ever the intelligent one.

 _Intelligent._ A perfect idea flashes in my mind and I shoot up, very excited. "Cassie, sweetie, let's go."

"Where are we going?"

"To Erudite."

…

One tense bus ride later and we arrive at the boundaries of Erudite. I grasp Cassie's hand tightly and wonder if Erudite will punish me for leaving Dauntless.

But I don't care. I'm doing this for my baby sister.

I march up to the main Erudite building and walk in. A tall, slim woman in Erudite blue and high heels walks quickly up to me. She holds a clipboard and pencil.

"Hello, please state your business." She lifts a perfectly stenciled eyebrow and raises her pencil.

I swallow. "I am Becca, a Candor transfer to Dauntless, and this is my little sister Cassandra. We need to see whoever's in charge of child abuse relations."

She nods curtly and writes something down. "Do you have an appointment?"

"No, but this is an urgent matter."

"Follow me." The woman turns around and begins marching down a long corridor. I grasp Cassie's hand tightly and we follow her quickly.

After a couple minutes we arrive at a bright blue door. The woman knocks and a man's voice calls, "Come in!"

She opens the door and ushers us in, then comes in herself and closes the door.

We're in a big office with a lot of bookshelves and technology. A tall, thin man sits at a desk, looking at us inquisitively.

"Mr. Prior, these children need to speak to you regarding child abuse," the woman tells him. Something tugs at me about his name but I shrug it off.

He nods. "Thank you, Lisa. That will be all."

She leaves abruptly, closing the door behind her firmly.

"Have a seat," Mr. Prior says pleasantly, gesturing to two brown straight-backed chairs across from him.

We walk over to them and sit. Cassie trembles slightly. She's never been a fan of Erudite.

"So, your names?" he asks.

"I'm Rebecca and this is my little sister Cassandra," I tell him, playing with my long, straight brown hair.

"I am Dr. Caleb Prior, assistant to Jeanine Matthews and head of child abuse relations. How may I help you?"

Suddenly something hits me. _He is Tris's brother._

I swallow nervously. "Yesterday morning our Candor father punched Cassandra. We need that reported."

He leans forward and scrutinizes us. "What is his name?"

"Verdade Griffin."

His eyes widen slightly. "Verdade Griffin," he muses. "Where did he punch you?" he asks softly to Cassie.

She points to the spots and he leans back after examining it. The bruises seem more defined now.

"I will call one of my doctors in to fix you right up and then we'll call Amity and Dauntless to arrest your father. This is some serious bruising right here."

I clear my throat. "Why do you need Amity?"

He turns to look at me. "Why, peace serum, of course."

I gulp. I never really wanted Father to be arrested, just punished for hurting Cassie, and peace serum seems a little over the top. But Cassie needs to be safe.

"What about Mother?" Cassie asks quietly, and Caleb turns back to her.

"Your mother will be brought in as well. Did she watch when you got hurt?"

"Yes." Cassie quivers a little, and Caleb rests a comforting hand on her shoulder to calm her.

"Then she will have charges pressed against her as well. How old are you, Rebecca?"

I feel like a deer trapped in headlights when he faces me. "Um … sixteen," I squeak.

"Did you transfer yesterday?"

I swallow and nod. "Yes, to Dauntless."

"And did you have a Dauntless member accompanying you, or did you sneak out?" His tone is very stern and commanding, and I shrink back.

 _Crap._

Then I remember the backpack I'm wearing and that Tris told me that I'd find something in it if someone saw me.

I take it off and rummage inside. Sure enough, I find a rolled-up piece of paper. I unfold it, scan it quickly, and grin. It's perfect.

 _Instructions:_

 _1._ _Do the check to make sure no cameras are down_

 _2._ _Ask one Erudite member a question_

 _3._ _Ask one Amity for food_

 _4._ _Ask one Candor for a lie detector machine_

 _5._ _Ask one Abnegation for an item of your choice_

 _6._ _Ask one Dauntless for an item of your choice_

 _Report back to me by six o'clock with all the items. I expect the exercise will be completed thoroughly and promptly without fail._

 _-Instructor Tris_

I hand it to him. "This, uh, is an exercise given to me by one of my instructors. My job was to make sure no cameras around the city were damaged, then I had to get one item from each faction and report back to her. When I was in the Candor sector, I saw my sister and knew I had to take her to Erudite because of our father."

He pales and I realize that this is from Tris, his sister. _Whoops, bad plan._

But his face relaxes after a millisecond and he hands the paper back to me. "Thank you. I will take it from here. You should go back to Dauntless."

I nod, not wanting to contradict him. I hug Cassie tightly, a very Amity thing to do, but I don't care.

"Becky, what are they going to do to Father?" she whimpers, probably terrified.

"They'll punish him for punching you, sweetie," I murmur to her. "Now I have to go back. I will see you soon, alright? Come to Dauntless on Visiting Day."

She nods vigorously, and I leave Caleb's office and begin the long walk to exit Erudite.


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Note:**

 **Hi everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I won't be able to update for about three weeks. I apologize for that and the shortness of this chapter, but there's not really anything I can do about it.**

 **Thanks for all of your support already! We haven't even hit 20,000 words and we already have almost 40 reviews, 6 follows, 4 favorites, and almost 900 views! It's really incredible, all of your support and everything.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. Credits go to Veronica Roth, excluding my OCs.**

I arrive back at Dauntless in about an hour. I stand on the edge of the hole, getting ready to jump. Even though I've done it before and I know there's a net on the bottom, it takes some time to muster up the courage.

I inhale and exhale deeply, shifting my backpack so it feels more comfortable. It's only noon and I didn't have the other snacks yet. I decide to rummage through the backpack for something to eat before I jump.

I find a fresh apple from Amity and some chips from Dauntless. I eat them quickly and then face the hole again.

 _I can do this. I am Becca._

I take one step forward and then I'm falling.

This time, I don't scream. I just wait for impact on the net.

Soon I make contact with it, bouncing around and feeling that familiar fear sensation that I'm trapped. I stumble out of it as fast as possible and dodge the cameras, heading to the infirmary using the map.

In a couple minutes I arrive. Marlene's eyes widen when she sees me. "Quick, get in the bed," she hisses, gesturing to the cot I was in before.

"Where's Tris?" I ask, pulling the covers back and getting in.

"She left to train the initiates." Marlene finishes wrapping a Dauntless woman's arm. "Are you feeling alright?"

I nod. "Like it never happened."

"Good. You can definitely go back to training tomorrow."

"Can I go today?"

"Definitely not." Marlene shakes her head firmly. "But would you like me to call Tris in so you can tell her about what happened?"

"Sure, thanks."

Marlene jogs out of the room towards the back. I sigh and relax on the bed.

 _I got to see my baby sister._ Father punched her. How could he have punched her? How could someone hurt that sweet, innocent little girl like that?

"Tris will be here in a couple minutes," Marlene tells me, coming back into the room. "I've arranged a private surgical room for you two to talk."

I grin widely. "Thanks, Marlene."

"Not a problem," she assures me. "I'm glad to help. I owe Tris, anyway."

The Candor in me comes out. "Why?"

She stiffens. "That's not any of your business, initiate" –

"I'm here!" Tris says brightly, jogging into the infirmary. I put a hand on my mouth to stifle the laughter as Marlene's face undergoes several different expressions, some of them purely hilarious to see.

"Thanks for calling, Marlene," Tris tells her, and pulls the covers off my bed. "Let's go, Becca."

I follow her obediently through a door on the side of the infirmary. It leads to a hallway and Tris takes me to the third door on the right.

Inside is a cot and there is a desk and chair leaning against the wall.

"Have a seat," Tris orders me, gesturing to the cot. I sit and wait for her to take a seat on the chair. "So, what happened?" she asks after a bit.

I sigh. "I went to Candor, avoiding the cameras like you suggested in the letter, and saw Cassie. She told me that, uh, my father punched her in several places and that's why she came. We went to Erudite and I handed her over so they could do whatever they do with child abuse victims and arrest my father. I used the paper in the backpack with the instructions for an excuse. Oh, and I, uh, I saw your brother. He's in charge of child abuse relations."

She stiffens. "Caleb?"

"Yes."

Tris stands up abruptly. "Where's the backpack?"

"Next to the cot I was on," I respond uncertainly.

"You wait here, initiate. Don't move."

She runs out and I can literally feel the wind she creates next to my face. I shiver slightly and wonder if I did anything wrong by going to Erudite. I didn't _mean_ to see Caleb!

Tris comes back in a minute or so carrying the backpack. She rummages through it and growls in frustration. "Initiate!" she snaps, and I shrink back. "Where are the fake instructions?"

"Um, I don't know," I squeak.

She thrusts the bag at my chest and snarls. "Find them or you're factionless."

My eyes grow wide and my breath catches. I frantically search through the backpack. I'm sure I put them back.

Sure enough, I find them crumpled up, tucked under the map of the city. I hand them to Tris.

She scans it with narrowed eyes. I begin to be slightly scared. Of all the few times I've seen Tris, she's _never_ acted like this.

Finally, she throws the paper to the floor and stomps on it. A side of her I didn't see before comes out and she's in a pure rage.

I sit there huddled against the wall on a cot, desperately hoping I don't become factionless. Why is she acting like this?

"My b – I mean Caleb," she says finally, with clenched teeth, "when you showed him these instructions, what was his reaction?"

I try to remember. "Um, he went kind of pale and then, uh, I forget. I'm sorry if I did anything wrong, Tris. Really, I am."

"Don't talk to me right now," she tells me harshly. I shrink back even more.

After a couple minutes, she seems calmer. At last, she sits back down again and stares at the paper, looking defeated.

"I'm sorry, Becca." I realize with a start that she, an initiate instructor, is apologizing to me, an initiate. "I got a little hot-tempered. My brother should not hear about me in my Dauntless work at all, and vice versa. But I overreacted." She pauses. "You should probably get back to your initiate dorm. It's about time you return. My husband will get mad if you don't."

I nod nervously and turn to leave the private surgical room, when Tris calls me.

"Becca?"

I turn around quickly. "Yes?"

She smiles slightly. "Good luck with your father and sister."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: I don't know where to start. I'm so sorry for not updating. It's been a little more than three weeks and honestly I don't think I deserve these 44 reviews, the 4 favorites, the 6 follows - and the many thousand views I'm getting. You readers are honestly amazing and I can't thank you enough for your patience.**

 **In addition, I have set up another account - but on a different writing site called Wattpad. It's incredible and super-easy to use, so I recommend getting another account on that site to publish other stories that may or may not be more fanfics. Wattpad has a huge variety of genres of stories, and there's some super-cool features there that doesn't have, such as being able to review more than once on a chapter and having 'recommended' stories that Wattpad itself gives you.**

 **Reviews: Usually I get nice, kind, supportive reviews on my stories but lately they have been a little more insulting, especially on my other, completed story, which is titled Who Am I?. I don't mind constructive criticism, but downright insults are just plain rude and I will not hesitate to remove them. In addition, please refrain from off-topic reviews on my story. I would like to keep the reviews specifically about my story, my writing style, etc. and not about your own personal life. I think that can be easy enough, though.**

 **Savannah's tattoo is described in this chapter and I am aware that it might be hard to visualize. If you have any questions about it, please don't hesitate to PM me and I'll describe it in more detail - or, if a lot of people have trouble reading it, I'll write a short recap of it in the next chapter, whether as part of the story or another A/N.**

 **Usually, I don't write A/Ns but I decided to make an exception for this. Thanks for putting up with the wait, and I can promise daily or every-other-day 1000 word chapters from now on.**

As soon as I get back to the initiate dorms, Theo finds me and grins. "I have to tell you something."

"Yeah?" I ask curiously.

"So, you know how I told you I needed to ask Tris a question, and then I wasn't there at the tattoo parlor?" he says, and I nod.

"Yeah, I remember that."

"So basically what I did was I asked Tris if I could practice training when it wasn't training time. She agreed and then I just spent the time doing all those exercises for 'smaller people' – I think Tris called it gymnastics."

My eyes widen. "That's great, Theo!"

He beams. "Thanks! You guys can join me sometime. It's really fun and I already feel that fat burning." He flexes his muscles.

Obviously he's really proud of what he did, so I just play along. I think that he just loves to be a kid sometimes, and that's something really cool about him.

"Theo, did you tell her?" Savannah asks, approaching us. Reyna follows.

He grins and nods. "Yup."

"You should show us some new things later," Reyna suggests. "I want to see what you were working on."

He blushes a little. "Uh, sure."

"Would you move?" a nasty voice comes from behind me. I spin around and see a mean-looking kid dangling blue Erudite clothes by the ends of their threads, like they're poisonous. "I'm getting rid of these."

Theo's eyes widen. "Wait! Those are mine, Lucas!"

"Not anymore, Theodore," the boy says. "And it's Spike now."

Theo shrinks back, and Savannah does too. I gather from this that, despite the Dauntless clothes he's now wearing, he was an Erudite – and a bully at that.

"Hey, leave Theo alone." I step up to Lucas – or Spike – bracing myself for the outcome of my defiance. "We're not in Erudite anymore, sure, but if he wants his clothes back, you better give them to him, you brat."

The expressions on his face are priceless. Shock, anger, all of them – just a beautiful mix.

"And who are _you?_ " he asks scornfully.

"I'm Becca. Transfer from Candor."

He chuckles meanly. "Nice to meet you, _Becca._ I'm Spike." He sticks out a huge, calloused hand.

I push it away. "Stop being a bully, Spike."

Reyna steps forward, standing by me. "Theo and Savannah are our friends. Don't mess with them or you'll regret it."

I shoot a small smile at her. She returns it, then we both go back to glaring at him.

"Now give Theo back his clothes," I order Spike.

Reluctantly, he hands them back to a quivering Theo. Theo takes them, then hides them behind his back, as if they're going to get him in trouble.

"I'd keep those hidden if I were you," Spike tells Theo. "Lots of Dauntless prefer pure loyalty. Some might think you're a _traitor._ " He hisses the last word, then chuckles and jogs back to his own bed – which, I realize, is inconveniently next to mine.

Theo shivers. "Thanks, Becca. Thanks, Reyna."

"No problem, Theo." I give him a quick hug. "Now, what time is it?"

"I think dinnertime," Savannah pipes in. "Should we go?"

Something hits me quite suddenly. "Savannah, I still need to see your tattoo."

She frowns. "Maybe later."

"Nuh-uh. Not happening. Show me now."

She smiles slightly. "Are you sure, Becca?"

I growl playfully. "Yes, I'm sure, Savannah."

"Oh, fine."

Savannah bends down and begins taking off her shoe. I'm confused for a second, then realize the tattoo is on the bottom of her foot.

"It hurt really badly when she tattooed it on. Apparently feet are one of the more painful spots to get tattoos," she says. Then, finally, the shoe and the sock come off, and she bends her foot so I can see.

I gasp.

Her name, _Savannah,_ is tattooed in black ink in a beautiful cursive across the bottom of her foot, from heel to toe. Below each letter is a continuation of a word, the first letter being one of the letters of her name.

For _S,_ the word is _Sweet._

For A, it is _Astonishing._

For V, it is _Valuable._

For A, it is _Admirable._

For N, it is _Needed._

For N, it is _Natural._

For A, it is _Attentive._

For H, it is _Honest._

"These are the qualities that I know are true about me," Savannah says. "So if I ever doubt myself, I can read it and realize that I still have these traits. I got the tattoo on the bottom of my foot because every time I walk, it'll remind me that it is as real as the ground I am walking on."

My mouth drops open. "Savannah, that's … that's incredible."

She smiles. "Thank you."

"We should probably go to dinner now," Reyna says. "Come on, we'll follow the others."

Sure enough, everyone's leaving. I look at Savannah's tattoo one more time before she puts the sock and shoe back on, covering up the work of art.

The four of us follow everyone else to the dining hall, which is a short walk away. Soon enough, we arrive and are greeted by a loud, disorganized cheer, with Dauntless clapping and stomping and yelling.

I'm totally astonished as to why they're cheering for us, but then I realize that they're welcoming the initiates.

I spot Allen jogging through the crowd of new initiates and wave him over.

"Allen!" I say, relieved. "Where do we sit?"

He grins and wipes his sweaty forehead. "Pretty much anywhere you want, but try not to sit with important Dauntless. Hang out with your own group."

I consider my next question, then decide to just bulldoze through it. "Um, could we by any chance sit with you?"

He breaks out into an even bigger grin. "So glad you asked! I was about to ask you myself, as a matter of fact! Follow me, we'll sit with the Dauntless-born initiates."

I look at Reyna, Savannah, and Theo for approval. They look quite happy about the arrangement, so we follow Allen to a table at the back.

"Hey, guys. These are my new transfer friends – Becca, Reyna, Savannah, and, um … sorry, buddy, your name's blanked me," he says, referring to Theo.

"Theo," Theo says, in a braver tone than usual. "My name's Theo."

"Oh, cool." He sits down next to Diesel and gestures to a few seats free next to a tall, pretty girl. "That's Samantha. Sam for short. Say hi, Sam."

"Hi," Sam says dryly, turning to face us. "I'm Sam. Welcome to the cool kids' table."

Allen chuckles. "Well, have a seat, guys."

We sit – I'm directly next to Sam, with Savannah sitting next to me, then Theo, and Reyna on the end of the table.

"So, welcome to Dauntless!" a boy says, and I forget his name for a second, but then remember. _Brandon._

"Thanks, Brandon," I respond, looking around the table. "So what's for dinner?"

Sam nudges me. "You're a Candor transfer, right?"

"Yeah," I say, unsure of why this is relevant.

She smiles. "Oh, it's an inside joke. A few years ago, a Stiff transferred and didn't know what hamburgers were. Do you know?"

I roll my eyes. "Duh, they're like my favorite food."

"OK, good. We're having burgers tonight. Help yourself."

I do, and while I'm leaning over, I notice Spike hunched over at a table a little way away. He looks alone and I realize that no one is noticing him, no one is bothering to invite him to their table.

He is utterly alone.


	16. Chapter 16

**Lucas (officially Spike)**

I know I have made a mistake. My mother's last words echo in my ears as I sit alone at a table, studying my food because I am too embarrassed to look up at all the other initiates and regular Dauntless who are having so much fun, unlike me.

"Lucas," she had said, "your intelligence is alive, but there are qualities in you that do not belong in Erudite. Use your unnatural brilliance, your astonishing wit, your deep perception, and your justified, fair judgment to select for yourself who you desire to be. I love you with all my heart, Lucas, but you must choose your path. You must lead yourself with courage and you must not regret your decision you will make as you spill your blood into one of the bowls that will decide your future. Do you understand what I am saying?"

I had nodded, hugged her tightly, and sat next to her and Father as names were called and 'futures were decided' with one, simple drop of blood in bowls.

My aptitude test result had been Dauntless. Nothing had shocked me more. I was not Dauntless. I was Erudite.

But as I had risen from my seat and stepped down the steps to the floor in front of me to confront the entire city, I had thought that I didn't belong in Erudite.

And now, as I sit desperately alone at this miserable dinner, trying my best not to look at my new home, I realize that I was so wrong.

It doesn't matter if I am brave or smart. It just matters that my family is in Erudite. Faction before blood, I know, but my head swims when I think about the fact that I will probably only see my parents once or twice more in my life.

"Hey, Spike." A slightly familiar voice interrupts my droning, sad thoughts, and I shoot up to look at the intruder.

It's the girl who defended Theodore earlier – I don't remember her name. She is fiery and probably the perfect Dauntless – unlike me.

"What?" I snap, quickly covering myself in my shell of toughness, meanness, and rudeness. No one here can know what I am thinking about. Instead of Theodore, _I_ would be the traitor. I think about the insults I have called all the other Erudites my age, wondering what would have been different if my shell had cracked and the real me had been revealed.

But that's like a joke. I have never revealed my true self to anyone. I would be portrayed as weak, and seeing as I'm in a place like this, weakness is even worse that it would have been had I stayed in Erudite.

"I was just wondering if I could sit here," she says.

"You can if you want your face to be punched in," I snarl. I feel kind of bad for snapping at her like that, because I know that she was originally going to sit with the Dauntless-borns, yet she chose me.

"You know, that _has_ been on my bucket list lately," she says thoughtfully, then pushes back the bench – mind you, _I'm_ sitting on it (I'm no light feather) – and sits down casually.

I growl. "Who do you think you are?"

"Oh, I'm Becca. Candor transfer. I _think_ that's who I am, though. I might be Amy from Amity."

Her insolence is really getting to me, regardless of her decision to come cure my loneliness originally.

"Shut up." I continue eating. But apparently, she's not going to leave me alone.

"So, why'd you transfer?"

"None of your business." One more remark like that and I seriously will punch her.

"Alright, fine. I'll tell you why I did." She hesitates. "The day before the aptitude test, I got, um, bullied by this really mean Candor girl. She called me a liar, and that's the worst insult ever in Candor, as you can probably imagine. That almost, well, it almost pushed me over the edge. I got Candor for my aptitude test result, but, um … Liam, a guy I've had a crush on for forever, kissed me when everyone thought that he and Carrie, the mean girl, were together. Even though they had broken up the day before. The last string holding me from transferring was the thought of my baby sister Cassie, who probably couldn't survive without me in Candor. She's a born Amity, everyone knows that. Candor is just not the life for her. So I decided to stay in Candor, but it didn't matter anyway. The blood from my hand spilled too quickly, into the Dauntless bowl. I really didn't mean to, honestly. I didn't want to be in Dauntless, but now … now I've got some kickass friends who I know have my back in any situation. You want some friends like that, Spike? Because us four could use a fifth."

She gestures to Theodore, Savannah, and another girl who are standing behind us. Theodore looks scared. He's shifting from foot to foot. So is Savannah. But that other girl and Becca literally don't seem to care how scary I am.

Perfect Dauntless, the ones I'll never be.

Did she really just ask me to be friends with her and her group? How is she not intimidated by me?

This is quite honestly ridiculous.

"I'm good, thanks," I respond coldly. "I don't need anyone. You better think twice before you talk to me again – or sit next to me. I'm quickly losing my patience for you. The next time, I'm going to punch your face in."

She barely looks affected. "Spike, listen. I know you might not have been the nicest kid back in Erudite, but here you can be a new, better person. You can be who you want to be here. Come out of your shell. Hang out with me and my friends. Maybe even the Dauntless-born. We all want to hang out with you. You don't scare me, so stop trying to. I just want to be your friend."

"You're turning into an Amity," I snarl.

"No. I'm Dauntless now." She looks at me with big brown eyes pleadingly. "Just come with us. Once. Allen, one of my Dauntless-born friends, said that we're going to sneak out tonight. We'd love it if you'd join us."

"Yeah, right." I jab a right hook at her jaw. I seriously have no patience for her anymore. I'm done. Forget my shell, this is the real me getting angry at her. "Shut up, you worthless, pathetic little girl."

In a second, she pushes the bench back – with me still on it. Seriously, how is she this strong?

She stands up and gets in a guarded position, fists raised. "You wanna go? Let's go. I'm done. I've tried to be nice, but clearly you're just the rudest guy around, naturally. Come at me. Try your hardest."

"Becca," a girl (whose name I don't know) warns her. "You've got no fighting experience."

"I can take him, Reyna. Just trust me."

The girl, apparently named Reyna, sighs and steps forward. "Then I'll take him with you."

"No. I want to do this alone. He insulted me and he's going to pay for it."

"Becca …"

"I'll be fine, Reyna. I promise."

I stand up as well and get in a fighting stance, which my father taught me. I notice several holes in her defense and realize she has probably never fought in her life against someone.

Well, this should be easy.

I let her make the first move. Her eyes show me that she's going to go for my stomach first, but she feints and delivers a swift uppercut to my chin instead. I stumble backwards, faking hurt, and she advances menacingly.

And then I punch her gut.


	17. Chapter 17

**Becca POV**

Spike lunges forward and punches my gut. Incredibly, I jump back so I receive minimal impact. He stumbles forward, and I have a feeling that he's not faking it this time. I take advantage of his brief confusion and deliver a quick punch to the side of his head. He doubles over, obviously in pain.

I notice that his guard has come down over his stomach so I knee it quickly. He sinks to the ground even more.

Then I jump on him, pinning him to the ground with just my sheer weight.

I have no idea how I know what to do and when to do it. Some instinct in me guides me to each and every strike, each and every blow.

But my success doesn't last long. Spike rolls as he's under me and I'm caught off balance. He twists his body in a movement that sends me tumbling off of him, and then he pounces, pinning me to the ground roughly.

I am spun to be face-down. My chin slams into the dining hall floor and I yelp in pain. He stands up, placing a foot on my back and pressing down hard so I can't move.

"It was a good fight while it lasted, Candor," he growls. "But you're no match for me. Don't cross me ever again."

Instead of responding, I use my leg to kick up at him. He stumbles slightly, and that's all I need. I roll out from under him and spring up, getting into my guard again.

Spike is shocked. His eyes widen as he stares at me. "Have you fought before, Candor?"

"No. And my name's Becca."

I jab a quick left hook at him, which he blocks and counters with a sharp kick to my stomach. I dodge it and run behind him, elbowing his back. He lurches forward and I kick the back of his knees, forcing him to the ground.

"I really don't want to fight you, Spike," I tell him. "I'm just getting lucky, I guess."

"You sure are," he snarls, trying to get up. I keep him firmly down, putting all of my body weight on his back.

"Do you submit?"

" _Never!_ "

With a roar of fury, he lurches – but on purpose this time. I try my best not to weaken, but he's too strong for me. As he rises, I fall.

I roll away from his first kick, then counter his next by grabbing his leg and holding on as tightly as I can. Once my grip is secure, I yank it down. He tumbles to the ground and we roll around on the floor, wrestling for a higher position on each other.

Spike finally gets the upper hand, and once more I am pinned down by his brute strength.

"Let … me … submit …" I wheeze through unbearable pain.

"You deserve this," he responds coldly. "For your insolence."

My chin begins to burn with pain. "Please …"

"Forget it, Candor. Shut up."

My eyes close against my will. I begin to feel like there's no point in fighting anymore. I am about to drift away into unconsciousness, when suddenly the huge weight on my body is lifted. I feel as light as a feather and gently turn my body around to see why Spike is no longer holding me captive.

When I see the reason, I grin – or as much as I can grin, due to my injuries.

Reyna blurs in a flurry of punches and kicks. She does a flying spinkick and knocks Spike to the ground, ending with one foot on him and the other on the ground. She delivers several punches to his face, snarling every time, "Don't hurt my friend."

In about three seconds, he is out cold, and she rises up triumphantly. When she notices me lying on the ground, she immediately pulls me up, grinning.

"That … was … brilliant …" I groan, clutching her for support.

"Thanks. I picked up a little from my older brother on his Visiting Day. He transferred to Dauntless and is now in a really high position – I think he works in the control room or something. You OK, Becca?"

I feel a little faint. "Not … really."

"Do you want to go to the infirmary?"

"No …" My legs give out and I collapse. Just in the nick of time, she catches me and holds me bridal-style.

"Yeah, we're going to take you to the infirmary."

"Reyna …" I _really_ don't want to see Marlene again. "Please … just back to the dorm …"

"Why? What's wrong with the infirmary?"

"Becca, are you OK?" a new voice cuts in. I look up wearily, groaning at the amount of pain it takes to move my head.

It's Allen. The vision of him swims around in my head.

"She's OK," I hear Reyna tell him distantly. "Spike gave her a good beating."

"Who's Spike?"

"An Erudite transfer." Reyna shifts me in her arms. "I knocked him out. Becca's refusing to go to the infirmary. What should I do?"

Allen sighs. "Why doesn't she want to go? It won't make you show weakness, Becca, I promise."

"I know …" I groan in pain. "It's just … I was there earlier … the nurse got mad … I don't want to go again. Please … just back to the dorm … Allen …"

"Let's just take her back to the dorms, if that's what she wants. I can get Sam to help with healing. Her mom's a nurse in the infirmary. She knows quite a bit about it. Do you want a bit of help with carrying her?"

"No, I've got it. Will you lead the way back, though? I'm not quite sure I remember where to go."

"I think your buddy Theo has got it down pretty well, but sure. And I'll grab Sam while I'm at it."

"OK, thanks."

Then I black out.

When I wake up, I'm lying on a not-so-comfortable bed. The pain is mostly gone.

I open my eyes tentatively.

"Feeling better, Becca?" Reyna asks.

"Much," I say. I try to sit up and find I can do so with relative ease. "How long was I out?"

"About an hour. Pretty much everyone's getting in some extra training in the training room. Sam and I stayed behind to help you, but she just left a couple minutes ago."

"What did she do to me?"

"Drugged you with something. A painkiller, I think." She hesitates. "I think I'm going to go train, OK? I'll see you later."

I smile. "Don't worry about leaving me, Reyna. See ya."

She nods, relieves, and quickly exits what I realize now is the initiate dorm.

I lay there for a little bit, letting the painkillers sink in and heal my cuts and bruises. I have no idea why I was in so much pain, but oh well.

"Becca."

I spin to face the talker.

Oh no.

It's Spike, advancing towards me menacingly with his fists raised.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: I apologize for the fact that I have forgotten disclaimers for the past couple chapters. Please excuse my lack of editing and carefulness. Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. All characters and the setting are owned by Veronica Roth, excluding my OCs.**

I stand up and feel a faint throbbing in my head. Apparently the painkiller still has a bit of work left.

"Spike," I growl. "Not now."

I realize he's bandaged all over, with a slight limp. But apparently that's all the injuries he got from Reyna's beating.

He continues to advance. "Candor, you made a fool of me. So did your friend. You're going to pay."

I can't fight him again. I'm too weak.

I can only beg, or else it'll be a lot longer than an hour before I recover, and I'll probably become factionless.

"Spike …" I give him my puppy eyes. "I'm begging you. Leave me in peace. You are more powerful than me. You are stronger … and better. I will never talk back to you again."

His eyebrows come together. "But that's not how the world works, Candor."

Wait – why did he call me by my real name when he was alerting me to his presence?

"Spike. I get it. You want to prove that you're better than me. Fine. But you're a _good person._ "

"No I'm not."

"Yes, you are. Someone in this city … someone loves you so much that they're willing to die for you. I know that. There is always someone who will."

He takes a sharp breath and steps back.

"It's someone in your family," I guess. "Someone in your family is willing to die for you. Do you have any siblings?" Somehow, from his face, I can tell that he doesn't. "No? Then your parents? Mom or dad?" I hesitate. "I'm gonna go with your mom."

His eyes widen and he gapes. "How did you know that?"

"So I'm right," I say satisfactorily. "It _is_ your mom."

He hesitates, and for a second I think I've convinced him. But then his hardened shell covers the real him, and he advances towards me, covering all distance between us.

"Candor, you're going to pay," he snarls. He connects a sharp fist with my jaw and I double over.

What happens next happens so fast, I can barely keep track. Spike shoves me to the ground and then yells – in pain.

My jaw is killing me, but I get up and face Spike.

Apparently he irritated his shoulder in some way or something. I realize there's a huge bandage right where he's clutching.

He sinks to the ground, and after a couple seconds, he starts crying a little. Soon they turn into a heavy stream of tears, and then he's sobbing, curled up like a baby on the floor while grasping his shoulder.

I have no idea what to do. I mean, I know that he was trying to hurt me, but I'm sure the real him is in there somewhere.

I just have to pull it out of him.

Starting with his shoulder.

I kneel down to his level and start soothing him with words. "Shh, Spike. I'm gonna help you. I promise, I can cure you. I'll get Sam, and Reyna. Maybe they can get you better."

There's no response.

"I'll be right back," I tell him hastily. I run out of the dorm.

I remember that right next to it is the training room. As soon as I enter, I'm bombarded by Allen, Theo, and Savannah.

"You're here! Are you OK?" Theo asks anxiously, giving me a brief but thorough inspection with his eyes. "I was so worried. You got beaten up really badly. Sam wouldn't let anyone but Reyna see you. I'm so, so sorry about Spike. He's been a bully since we were ten years old. He's really an awful –"

"Theo," I interrupt him. "Thank you for the well-wishes, but I really need to talk to Sam." I focus on Allen. "Where is she?"

He hesitates. "I think she was sparring with Diesel, last I checked. She'll be in one of the minor rings. Go as far as you can and turn right. Why do you need her?"

I hesitate. "I'm not sure I want to say." I don't think Spike would be very happy if I were to tell everyone what's happening to him.

He sighs. "Then I guess there's no way I can make you tell me. All right. Go find Sam, and then come train with us."

"I think my injuries are still a little too bad to train right now."

"That's pathetic, Candor. You're going to train with us and you are _not going to complain._ "

For a second I think he's serious, but then I see him crack a small smile, and I slap him playfully. "Oh shut up."

He's about to say something, but then I catch sight of Sam, drinking some water a little way off. I put a hand up to shush him. "Sorry, Allen. I gotta go."

I run over to Sam and tap her on the shoulder. "Sam, please. I need you to come with me back to the initiate dorm."

She turns to me. "Candor! Feeling better? Did the painkillers help?"

I nod. "Yeah, so much. Listen, please just come."

Sam doesn't even ask questions. She tosses the water bottle to Diesel, who takes a swig and winks at her. She smiles a little in a flustered sort of way, then turns back to me.

"Lead the way, Candor."

I rush back to the dorm with her following. When we arrive, Spike is unconscious.

She rushes towards him. "What happened?"

"Spike came in here and tried to attack me. He punched me and tried to force me to the ground, but then started yelling in pain, and then sobbing. Can you help him?"

She looks at me with – is that awe? "You went and got help immediately even though he's like your sworn enemy?"

"He is _not_ my sworn enemy. But yeah," I say, embarrassed. "I feel like there's a real person in there."

"You're such an Amity." She chuckles a little. "OK, let's see what I can do."

She unwraps his bandage and winces. "So, we've got an swelled bruise, minor bleeding, and a slight … yikes. That's some infection right there." She hesitates. "Do you know where the Dauntless-born dorm is?"

I hesitate. "No, not really."

"When you leave this dorm, go straight. The first door on the right should lead to a hallway, then turn left and enter the first door you see on the left. That's the Dauntless-born dorm. My bed is the last one, in the left corner. Under it should be a black Dauntless backpack. Bring me that backpack. Hurry."

I give her a nod, process the information, and run out of the dorm. Following the instructions, I arrive at the Dauntless-born dorm and find her bed.

Under it is the backpack, just as she said. I grab it and run back, only getting lost once when I make a wrong turn, but then I quickly retrace my steps.

When I arrive, Sam looks up at me with a worried expression on her face.

"He's burning up," she says. "The infection is spreading. Becca … I'm not sure that he'll make it."


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own Divergent. All credits go to Veronica Roth, excluding my OCs.**

My eyes widen in horror. "What? What are you talking about? It's just a … it's just a minor infection, right?"

Sam grimaces. "I don't know. Give me the backpack."

I toss it to her and she catches it deftly, unzipping it open in one fluid motion. She rummages around for something and comes out with a tube of white cream.

"This should cool the bruise down while I try to heal the infection." She squeezes some onto her finger and gently smears it over the bruise. Spike winces, but remains unconscious. "This might be so serious that we'll have to take him to the infirmary."

My eyebrows come down doubtfully. "Will he … will he survive this? I don't understand how it's so serious, but … will he make it?"

She shrugs. "I have no idea, honestly. All we can do is hope." She pulls out a syringe and a small bottle of clear liquid. "This is painkiller serum. When I inject it into his veins, it should make him relax a bit more."

"Who cares about him relaxing?" I explode. "Just fix the infection!"

I have no idea why I care about his well-being so much. I guess it's just because I don't want him to die. But why am I screaming at Sam?

She purses her lips tightly. "He's tense and stressed out right now, and that's adding to his fever. I felt his pulse. It's rising quickly. Relaxing will slow down his pulse to a normal pace and maybe even lower his temperature. Please just trust me with the medical things, OK?"

I'm totally embarrassed. "I'm sorry, Sam."

She shrugs. "It's fine. Please just … stop talking for a second. I need to focus."

She uses her thumb to find something on his neck, then pinches it, fills the syringe with painkiller serum, and injects it into the pinched spot.

Then she pulls out another syringe with a dark colored serum already loaded. Taking a deep breath, Sam injects it right into the center of the infection.

"And now we wait." She arranges Spike's limbs so they're in a more comfortable position. "That should do it. He'll wake up in a couple minutes. I'm going to go back to training. Do you want to come?"

I hesitate, looking down at Spike's helpless figure, and then up at Sam. "Um … sure."

I follow her back to the training room. Immediately, Diesel blows a kiss to her and she blushes.

"I'll catch you later, Sam," I tell her, intent on finding _my_ friends.

"See ya, Candor." Then she runs over to Diesel.

I spot Theo practicing on monkey bars, doing fast pull-ups. After about twenty, he lowers himself so his arms are straight. Then he begins to swing, so fast that his legs catch on the bars in front of himself. He heaves himself up numerous times.

Savannah watches him in awe. Theo quickly does a handstand, drops back down, and does a tuck-jump to the floor.

"Where did you _learn_ that?" I ask, approaching him.

He beams. "When you were getting tattoos, I worked on it. It was really hard but now it's easy. Does anyone else want to try?"

I see Reyna sparring with another one of Allen's friends – Brandon. Incredibly, she's matched with him. They exchange blows with equal measure.

Suddenly, Brandon ducks and sweeps the ground with his leg, meaning to knock her feet out from under her. She jumps over it with ease and before he can recover from crouching, she pounces on him, forcing him to the floor.

"Submit?" I hear her ask.

"Yeah," he groans.

I turn back to look at Theo, who's anxiously waiting for a response. "Sorry, Theo, but I'm gonna run over to Reyna and talk to her for a bit."

He nods. "OK, sure."

I rush over to her and call her name. "Reyna!"

She spins around. "Becca! You're back! Hey, how's it going?"

"Great," I say. "Where did you learn to fight?"

She smirks. "It's natural to me, I guess. Just like gymnastics is natural to Theo. We should find something that you're really excellent at."

I smile slightly. "Yeah, right. Like that's going to happen."

"Come on, Becca! I know we'll find you something!"

I laugh, a little bitterly. "Spare me, Reyna. I'm average at pretty much everything."

"You almost beat Spike. You were so close. That's not average."

I sigh. "Whatever."

Her face lights up. "Do you want to spar?"

I shrug. "I don't know. I think my injuries are still too bad."

She grimaces. "Well, that sucks, because you do not have a choice."

She begins to pull me into the ring. I start laughing and protesting at the same time, but she totally ignores me.

"I'm going to help you get better at fighting," she says. I nod hesitantly. "And don't worry, I'll go easy on you."

She raises her guard. I do the same.

"No, no, no. You have too many holes, Becca. Raise your left fist a little. Your elbows should be about level with your belly button. Now shuffle your feet a little to the right, so you're facing sideways. Turn your hips to face me."

I comply with everything she's telling me. It takes a full five minutes until she's satisfied with my guard, and then she says, "OK, so I'm going to throw a punch at you. I want you to duck and punch me in the gut."

It feels a little unnatural to be doing this. I mean, I've almost never harmed someone in my life, and when I'm not full of anger and adrenaline – like I was when I was fighting Spike – it just feels fundamentally wrong.

"We're going to invent your own personal combo." Reyna seems oblivious to my doubts, and I guess that's OK. "When you punch me in the gut, then do whatever feels right to you."

I nod. She aims a lightning-fast punch to my head and I duck just in time. I punch her in the gut, then sway to one side while she tries to punch my right side. Quickly, I dart around behind her, and before she realizes what's happening, I shove her to the ground.

"Submit?" I ask.

"Yeah."

When she gets up, she's grinning widely. "That was incredible, Becca! That back-run … I loved that!"

We practice for a long time after that. I perfect my "back-run" while Reyna works on her roundhouse kick, which Brandon helps her on.

After about an hour, Allen joins us and decides he wants to spar with me. I accept the challenge and get in the guard Reyna taught me.

It seems like he's waiting for me to make the first move, so I do. A quick combo of right fist, left fist, right fist sends him dodging wildly. Seeing that he's off-balance, I sweep my leg under his. He stumbles a bit, and I run around behind him and push him to the mat.

But my victory doesn't last long. He rolls out from under me, just like Spike did, and pins me down.

"Submit?" he asks quietly.

I groan, feeling a little bit of pain from the dining hall come back. "Yes."

In a flash, he gets to his feet and holds out a hand. I take it and he pulls me up.

"You almost had me there," Allen admits. "That was an excellent fight, Candor. I'm impressed."

"Thanks," I say gratefully.

Then he turns to Reyna. "Your turn."


End file.
